The Second Human-Covenant War
by Supreme Commander
Summary: Sixteen years have passed since the end of Halo 3. A new leader has arise while the Arbiter was absence looking for John-117 and while he was gone he formed a new Covenant Empire. The new leader decides to attack Earth and enslave humanity for a new Covenant Empire. The Master Chief and the Spartan survivors have to fight a 2nd war. Its all or nothing victory or death.
1. Chapter 1: The Return of Master Chief

**Disclaimer: Halo is not mine it belongs to Bungie, 343 Industries, and Microsoft Studios. This story of Halo is mine though.**

 **Author Note: This is a reboot of my Second Human-Covenant War. I wasn't planning on doing this but I needed too because I have chapters set during the same time as other chapters. Thank you for support and please review, favorite or follow. thank you I hope you enjoy the rebooted story.**

Chapter One

March 1, 2568

Sixteen years have passed since John-117, or the Master Chief, stopped the Halo Rings from firing and the United Nations Space Command and the remanence of the Covenant Empire have been at peace for those sixteen years. Some rebel Covenant forces had been causing trouble for the UNSC and the Covenant alliance. The inhabitants of Earth had rebuilt much of what the Covenant destroyed when they attacked Earth in 2552. Now every city has weapons to help protect the cities from any potential Covenant attack should return, each city also has a small force of UNSC soldiers' stationed there, though some of the larger cities have a larger force.

Colonel Heath-118 is a Spartan-II. He fought alongside and had been there for the Master Chief since they were six years old. The colonel, along with the Master Chief, Kelly, and Sam, became best friends as they were growing up in the Spartan program on the planet Reach. He was Master Chief's commanding officer because Dr. Catherine Halsey and Chief Mendez wanted him to be. He later become the commanding officer of all the Spartans; though when the war started he was only a Lieutenant. He went with the Master Chief on almost every single mission that the Chief was sent on. They were inseparable. One year before the battle of Sigma Octanus IV, Heath-118 was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Colonel Ackerson, despite his difference with the Spartan-II's, asked Heath to become the commanding officer of the Spartan-III's, but Lord Torrance Hood, with ONI approval, had already placed him in command of all the Spartan II's and III's.

He was one of the few people who knew about the Covenant early arrival on reach but due to his orders he couldn't tell anyone. After assisting Noble Team on Reach, Doctor Halsey gave him the AI Cortana as well as an another AI named April, who is Cortana's sister. Afterwards he escaped on the Pillar of Autumn with the Chief to fight on Installation 04 against the Covenant and the Flood before escaping. Once back, the chief and him went back to Reach to rescue the surviving Spartans and Doctor Halsey. They then returned to Earth and got some well deserved rest and relaxation. When the Prophet of Regret attacked Earth, Heath helped defend her, yet he stayed on Earth to fight the Covenant while the chief went to Delta Halo. Once Truth arrived on Earth, heath met the chief after he crashed into the jungle and together they fought on against the Covenant and then the Flood. Then they went through the portal and continued to fight on the Ark. Spartan-118 and the Arbiter where the only two to return in the front half of the Forward onto Dawn. Heath knows that John, the Master Chief, is still alive and he will find him no matter how long it takes. Anything to find his brother.

Colonel Heath-118 started a new Spartan program, called the Spartan-IV project, two years after he returned to Earth from the Ark. They are augmented as well as getting more training in combat operations then the Spartan-IIIs did to decrease fatality rates. The first group of Cadets for the Spartan-IV project were children that were from worlds that the Covenant had destroyed, similar to the Spartan-III's. The second group also came from worlds destroyed by the Covenant, though a select few came from UNSC Armed Forces, of which there was a Commander Sarah Palmer. As the Spartan-IV's started training, Colonel Heath-118 and the surviving Spartans could finally take off their armor and wear regular uniforms until the UNSC need them to be Spartans again. Sometimes Heath will thank back to the war and how many lives were lost, including his fallen brothers. He hopes that no more Spartans will have to die like his brothers and sisters died during the long war with the Covenant. The marines and the new Spartans admire the metals and ribbons he won during the long war against the Insurgents and then the Covenant whenever they see him pass by with them on.

One day while the colonel was training some Spartan-IV he hears a marine tell him over the radio, "Sir we have a Covenant ship passing the defense platforms." And the colonel headed to the tower.

"Who is it?' The colonel asks. The marine looks at him and can see that he has his hand on his sidearm. Heath is anxious to know if the Covenant Ship will be friendly or turn out to be hostile, as a few had in the past.

"It's the Arbiter's ship sir." the marine answered.

"Tell them they can land."

"Yes sir." he answered. The only operational defense platforms within range stood down to allow the peaceful Covenant ship to land on Earth. The Covenant ship landed in a huge field outside the Marine base in South Africa near Voi. Within minutes the ship was surrounded by Marines, Hornets, and Pelicans, as well as two UNSC ship. They had orders not to fire unless fired upon. The ramp of the ship dropped and a soldier in armor walked out.

"It's a Spartan!" A marine yells.

"Call Lord Hood and Colonel Heath, tell them there someone here who they should meet." A lieutenant yells to those under her command. Soon after a soldier got in contact with them and two Warthogs drove up to the ship along with several warthogs equipped with missile pods.

"Master Chief!" Heath yells recognizing the Spartan. He runs over to him and gave him the jester of a hand shake and then hugged him instead. The chief could tell that even though they were trained not to show much emotions, it was hard not to. The chief knew that he could crush heath with heath out of his armor.

"Good to see you again sir." he says to him.

"Is Cortana with you?"

"I'm here, how are you colonel?" She says through his helmets external speakers.

"I'm fine." he answers as the Arbiter came out.

"How did you find him?" Lord Hood asked the Arbiter.

"His ship's beacon," the Arbiter answers. "It took years to find him but in the end we found him."

"Thank you for bringing him back." Lord Hood tells him. They shook hands and then the Arbiter shook hands with the colonel and the Master Chief.

"You humans have been rubbing off on me since this alliance started." the Arbiter tells them.

"Yeah, thank you for sending some troops to help us rebuild." Lord Hood told him.

"Your quite welcome, and thank you for your help as well. I hope this peace will continue for at least as long as I'm alive." And then the Arbiter left.

The Master Chief got into the passenger seat of Hog and then heath drove the Chief back to Spartan HQ. The two ODST outside of the gate halted them at the gate. The colonel gave them his identification card and they let the hog through as they gave him a salute. When they saw the Master Chief they looked on in awe. Heath stopped the Hog at the barracks and everyone that saw the chief were talking to themselves in awe.

"Was that master chief?" a soldier asked another soldier.

"I think it was," the other person answered as they entered the Spartan's instructor's quarters. Kelley was the first one to see the chief and when she did she ran up to him and gave him a big hug.

"It's good to have you back John." she said to him.

"It's good to see you too Kelly." At that Linda and Fred looked up.

"John?" they both said in unison.

"Yes, I'm back." And then they hugged one another.

"Once again we are all together." Heath said as Dr. Halsey entered, followed closely by Chief Mendez.

"I thought you might return to us John," she said to him. "Good to see you."

"Likewise ma'am," he answered. "Where did you go with Kelly?" he asked, prompting her to tell her tale.

"Will the Covenant return to destroy Earth or to enslave us all?" Kelly asked John.

"I don't know, but I do know that as long as the Arbiter is in charge they will not attack us, but we must still be ready to defend Earth and all of her Colonies that are left; especially Earth if they do decide to attack."

"No peace will last forever and I think sometime in the near future the Covenant will return, maybe not to destroy us but to enslave us," Colonel Heath-118 replied. "We cannot predict the future but we can choose our own fate in any future. If the Covenant does return then I'll fight them until there's not a breath left in me to defend the people of Earth." Every Spartan cheered in agreement.

"Can we win against the Covenant if they decide return?" Dr. Halsey asked.

"I don't know, but with the new weapons coming from the UNSC weapon labs we might stand a chance. The four hundred orbital platforms will also make any Covenant attack hard," Colonel Heath-118 told them.

"You do know that only ten of the orbital platforms are operational as of right now," Dr. Halsey tells him.

"Yes I know, the Arbiter's ship pass through one of those defense platforms," Colonel Heath-118 replied. "The rest should be operational in another month, and they can all be controlled from a few command platforms, but even they haven't been brought online yet."

"Excuse us Heath, John, but Mendez and I need to head to a secret ONI base, and I'll be taking three of your Spartan-IV's with me," Dr. Halsey tells them as she leaves with Mendez and the three Spartan-IVs on a Pelican. The three Spartan-IV's she choose are Miranda, Kat, and Eva. Fred, Kelly, Linda, John, and Heath headed to the officer quarters to give the chief some fresh clothes so he can get out of his MJOLNIR armor. Cortana's chip was taken to the main base after the chief was given a fresh set of new clothes after he took a hot shower.


	2. Chapter 2: New Prophet

Chapter Two

March 2, 2568

Disclaimer: **Halo is not mine it belongs to Bungie, 343 Industries, and Microsoft Studios. This story of Halo is mine though.**

As the Arbiter's ship emerged from slip space and into Covenant controlled space he saw many ships around some sort of large object or space station. His ship was then hailed by one of the ships that were orbiting the object.

"Greetings Arbiter, the Holy One is expecting you." The ship commander told him over the communication screen. "Please submit your identification code or you'll be vaporized." The Arbiter knew that if he doesn't summit that days code the ships surrounding the object would destroy his ship with no questions asked, not because they believed they were humans, but a few rebels within the New Covenant fleet have tried to kill several of the Elite councilors. He has been gone for 12 months and 20 days looking for the Spartan known as the Master Chief and putting down revolts so he wasn't prepared for the sudden change. He summited his code to gain access to the planet below. Out in space there were four hundred Covenant ships; and according to the data that appeared on his screen that, more were being built every day for some important mission.

"Arbiter, welcome home." An Elite said to him over the radio.

"Thank you, Zinglong." The Arbiter replied before taking a Phantom over to the object, a floating fortress named the World Devastator. Though not yet finished fortress would be able to fly and fight in space. The Phantom landed in one of the hanger bays of the fortress. As he stepped out of the Phantom he saw hundreds of fighters and transports being worked on. Huragok's, or engineers as the humans called them, floated nearby performing their assign task. Grunts were patrolling the hanger bays along with Sangheili Minors and Jiralhanae. He was met at the end of the ramp by forty Elite Honor Guards and a dozen Unggoy.

"We are here to escort you to the Holy One." An Elite told him. "Please relinquish your weapons." The Arbiter handed over his weapons to the elite.

"Please come with us Arbiter." an Elite in Golden Armor told the Arbiter. He followed after the Golden Armor Elite with the Honor Guards and Unggoy bringing up the rear.

"Who is this Holy One?" the Arbiter asked.

"He has taken command of the entire Covenant Armada and has brought new species into the Covenant. We believe he is a god." Elite told him.

"I have never heard of the Holy One, what has happen since my departure 12 months ago?"

"A lot of things have changed since you left. More of our brothers on other worlds have joined the Covenant. We have allowed the Unggoy to reproduce on several worlds along with the Kig-Yar on different worlds and their warriors have increased the numbers of infantry we have. we are preparing for war."

"He is no god, he is just another prophet. who are you preparing war against?"

"Why the humans of course, it's time for us to take their world for our own and enslave them to do our bidding."

"What are these new species of Covenant you speak of." the Arbiter asked.

"They are the Stoli, Titians, Jirheilli, Gamoneans, and the Reapers."

"What do they look like?"

"I don't know Arbiter." The Arbiter didn't say anything. how could they betray him, and with someone like the prophets he thought.

"You were not here to see his powers when he killed a traitor to our cause." They headed to the leaders chamber. The guards outside announce the Arbiter's arrival then allowed him to enter.

"How do I address him?" the Arbiter asked the Elite.

"As you did the prophets." the Elite answered. The Arbiter entered and bowed before the new Hierarch of the New Covenant. Despite the efforts of the Arbiter and the Elites that followed him after the Great-Schism, some Prophet, or whatever he is, managed to gain control of the Covenant and incorporate all the old allies and even added new ones.

"Greeting's Arbiter, I'm Anubis ruler of the Covenant." He said to the arbiter. "I have heard much about you from your shipmasters. You are to be commended for you actions against the rouge Kig-Yar. I have also heard about you putting down a Sangheili rebellion that wanted to destroy a human world. The prisoners from that rebellion have been release as they have learned their lesson." The Arbiter could not see him from where he was standing due to Anubis sitting on a high throne; though he saw three San 'Shyuum sitting on their anti-gravity thrones three steps below the main High Prophet.

"Thank you noble Hierarch." the Arbiter replied with respect as he bowed. He hated doing this, especially after how the other prophets had treated them before the Great-Schism.

"Arbiter, now is the time for us to return to the humans home planet and take it for ourselves." He was shock by this news and balled his hands into a fist to keep from leaping up there and strike down the imposters; but he wanted to hear what the High Prophet planed to do to the humans first.

"What do you plan to do with the humans that live there?"

"I plan to enslave them so that they can activate forerunner artifacts for us, but you knew this already as the Golden Armored Elite told you. I know you've made friends among the humans, including the Demons. Don't worry, we're not going to hold it against you for making friends with the humans unless you don't pledge yourself to me."

"What happen to my shipmasters? I hear you replaced them with Elites loyal to you; I found that out when I arrived in the system." the Arbiter replied.

"Those that pledged themselves to me still command ships, but those that didn't were executed as I do not tolerate traitors in my New Covenant. However, the Shipmaster and the other Elites that helped you rebel against my Brother, the Prophet of Truth, have taken several of my ships and left. They will be your first assignment, you will find them and bring them back to me for execution." the Arbiter just listened. He wanted to find out more about this new prophet and what his military strength and weaknesses are before he chooses which side to join.

"Who is in charge of the Covenant Military?"

"The Elites are in command of the military and the navy with the Brutes under the Elites." He told him.

"What else has happen since I left?"

"I have brought five new species to the Covenant to help ensure a victory and the Unggoy and Kig-Yar have grown in numbers. Now pledge yourself to me and you will live!"

"I shall never pledge myself to you, nor shall any of my brothers that know the truth about you!" The Arbiter answered.

"That is where you are wrong Arbiter." Another Elite entered the throne room and the Arbiter recognized him as one of the Elites he left in charge of the fragile Covenant when he left 12 months ago. The Elite bowed to the High Prophet and the Arbiter just stared at him. "You see Arbiter, even one your most trusted now serves me."

"I still will never join you!" the Arbiter responded.

"Then you shall die. Know this Arbiter, your friends the humans won't stand a chance when we attack. Their only functioning orbital defense platform will be destroyed by our advance invasion force. Take him away." Two Brute Honor Guards escorted the Arbiter out of the throne room. Along the way they were ambushed by some Sangheili and they killed all the Brute Honor Guards.

"Arbiter follows us, we have a ship waiting to leave." They made their way to the ship. Once inside the shipmaster took off. They had to pass the Covenant armada but no ships fired on them. The Arbiter didn't understand why, but before they could make the jump to slip space, the Covenant ships, including the flying base, jumped.

"Where are they going?" the Arbiter asked.

"To Earth to finish what the Prophet Truth started all those years ago." The shipmaster answered. "Didn't he tell you that?"

"Yes, but I wanted to make sure he wasn't lying, I thought he was building up his army?" Arbiter says to the shipmaster.

"Maybe that is what he wanted you to thank Arbiter," the shipmaster replies.

"Maybe, they're not going to destroy earth, but we still need to warn the humans. Set a course for Earth." They sat a course to Earth and made the jump to slip space. They know that the New Covenant Fleet would meet up with more ships before they make the final jump to Earth. Arbiter only hopes he reaches Earth before the New Covenant did. He knew he'll have to kill many of his brothers to defend the humans, for once again they're blinded by another Prophet. Rtas Vadumee came up to the Arbiter, "As soon as we exit from Slip space a drop ship will take you down to the planet and we will jump back into Slip space and try to get as many ships as we can to help the humans."

"Won't the orbital platforms target us the moment we exit from slip space?" an Elite asked.

"According to our intelligence they haven't been activated yet?" another Elite reply.

"Does the prophet know this?" The Arbiter asked.

"Yes Arbiter," the Elite answers. They continued the rest of the way in silence.

"Well the Prophet is mistaken, the humans have a few that have been activated so once we emerge from Slipstream send the humans a signal that I tell you to send." the Arbiter told one of the Elite Majors.

"Arbiter, won't the humans have a small fleet in orbit around their planet?"

"Yes." the Arbiter replied as they emerge from slip space. The Covenant ship is immediately targeted by one of the Orbital Defense Platforms and a UNSC Frigate that is heading towards them. They sent the signal and the human in the control room of the Orbital Defense Platform granted them clearance to land. The Arbiter, along with sixteen Elites, all battle hardened veterans of the Human-Covenant War and the Covenant Civil War, boarded an awaiting Phantom to take them down to the Spartan base.


	3. Chapter 3: Battle of Spartan HQ Part 1

**Disclaimer: Halo belongs to 343 Industries and Bungie but this story does belong to me.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 **The Battle of Spartan HQ Part 1**

Meanwhile, as the Covenant Armada are preparing to leave to join with others at the rally point, Colonel Heath is showing Chief the Spartan base. However, he had to go and see how the trainees were doing. At that time a major arrived at the gate in an ODST uniform.

"Sir what are you doing here?" The guard asked.

"I'm here to see the colonel." He answered as they checked his ID and allow him to enter the compound. Just then, Spartan-118 drove up to the gate in a Hog.

"Well hello Major Cutter, would you like to go see the new Spartans before you get settled in?" The colonel asked.

"Yes Sir, I would." he answered before hopping into the hog.

"I know that HighCom sent you here to teach my Spartans how to drop from those Drop Pods you and your Helljumpers love so much." The colonel said in a sarcastic tone as they drove out to the Spartan training field. Major Cutter watched the Spartan-IV recruits going through their morning drills and practicing their skills in hand-to-hand combat. The Master Chief was giving them some pointers and all the new Spartans listened closely to the Master Chief had to say before they went and practiced them. Many of the Spartan-IV's were pleased to be in the presence of such a legend.

"Sir, the Arbiter has landed at the airfield." Heath heard over the radio.

"When did the Arbiter arrive?" Colonel Heath-118 asked.

"Just a few minutes ago, it took some time to clear him to land." An air traffic controller in the tower told him. The Master Chief hopped into the Hog with the colonel and the major before the colonel drove the Hog out to the airfield where he saw more Hogs near where the Arbiter's ship had come down. The Arbiter then came out with eighteen Elites behind him.

"Greetings Spartans, I came to warn you that the New Covenant is planning to attack you soon."

"Do you know when the attack will take place?" The Master Chief asked.

"It could be anytime," he answered.

"Then let's head to the bunker, at least we'll be safe for a while." Colonel Heath-118 suggested to the others. Agreeing, they all started to make their way for the bunker that was located underneath Spartan HQ. They boarded the Hogs and were on their way; but before they could get close to the entrance, Seraph fighters came screaming down from the sky and bombarded the field with plasma fire. They managed to make their way to the bunker without getting hit by plasma fire. UNSC Longsword fighters chased after the Seraph Fighters and managed to shoot down two of the enemy fighters before five more flights of Seraphs appeared behind the Longswords and blew them out of the sky. Marines were busy hurrying people into the bunker as the two Spartans, the major, the Arbiter and the eighteen Elites jumped off the Hogs and ran into the building. Though before the major could get into the building he was killed by a burst from a Banshee's plasma cannon. Right after he was gunned down, a Spartan-IV with a rocket launcher blew the Banshee out of the sky. The colonel was the last one inside the building as the elevator went down into the bunker on its first trip. The colonel knew that his Spartan-IVs wouldn't last long because many of them were not in armor; though some were wearing the SPI armor used by the Spartan-IIIs. He knows that'll buy them time. A Covenant assault carrier arrived and began unloading Covenant troops via gravity lifts. The Marines and the Spartan-IVs started fighting them as they landed. Twenty Elites and plenty of Grunts fell to the weapons of the UNSC, but more kept coming.

An Elite fired a Plasma Rifles at a Spartan-IV, killing him because he had no armor on. Grunts and Jackals started killing more marines and Spartans. Brutes also came down the gravity lift and started to kill UNSC troops. Elites cut marines in half, causing blood to spurt up into the air. The battle with the Spartans and the few UNSC marines stationed at the base didn't last long because just as the Covenant engage them, they were call back to the ship. Colonel Heath witnessed another Covenant Battlecruiser appeared above the Spartan Base and was preparing to fire their primary weapon. The colonel saw this and hailed ass to the elevator. As the elevator descended into the depths of the earth the Battlecruiser fired and everyone still on the surface was killed by super-heated plasma.

Several minutes before the Covenant attacked the Spartan Base in East Africa and a few minutes after Orbital Defense Platform Alexander cleared the Arbiter's ship to land, a split space rupture was detected next to the moon. Several more followed the first until Eighty Covenant ships of various classes emerged from slip space. The lieutenant looked up at his CO.

"Holy Fuck, get a message to HighCom and tell them a hostile Covenant fleet has just emerged from slip space and that only ten of the original Orbital Defense Platforms are operational and we are sent a Pelican to investigate why the new Orbital Defense Platforms hadn't come online when the Covies entered normal space." The naval lieutenant sent the message but nothing happen. He turn around and told his CO that he thinks they're being jammed. The commanding officer of the Alexander radioed the few remaining UNSC ships in orbit, since most of the Home Fleet was off practicing scenarios near Reach. The UNSC ships in orbit around Earth numbered twelve, not counting those at hidden UNSC bases throughout Earth and three at the Lunar Base. The original Orbital Platforms still had their one Super MAC but a small shield generator had been installed on the Cairo and the Alexander, which they hoped may save them so they can get off another salvo off. The ten Orbital Defense Platforms including, the Cairo, open fire. Instantly, Ten Covenant ships were terminated. The Covenant ships returned fire and four unshielded Orbital Defense Platforms were obliterated. The remaining Orbital Defense Platforms returned fire and six more Covenant ships were blown out of the sky.

The UNSC ships, which included the UNSC Point of No Return, UNSC New Mexico, UNSC Brave New World, UNSC Hamilton, UNSC Sitting Bull, UNSC Gray Horse, UNSC All under the Havens, UNSC Paris, UNSC American, UNSC Leviathan, and a few that didn't have names yet fired onto the Covenant ships and Nine Covenant ships disintegrated. The small UNSC Home Fleet and larger Covenant fleet engaged one another in small scale battles; MAC guns fire, Archer Missiles are launched, the Covenant fire their plasma weapons. The older UNSC vessels that are not equipped with shields which include the New Mexico, Gray Horse, and the Hamilton are vaporized. The UNSC Brave New World, with its lone MAC gun, opens fire at a Covenant Corvette and takes out the Corvettes shields, giving the UNSC American time to fire its twin MACs and three dozen Archer Missiles to destroy the Corvette. However, the UNSC American is destroyed by a Super carrier and a destroyer. Several UNSC ships headed out of system and made the jump to slip space as more Covenant ships drop out of slip space leaving only the UNSC Brave New World, UNSC Point of No Return, UNSC All under Havens, UNSC Leviathan and the ODP's remaining. The Sitting Bull shielded one of the Orbital Platforms and is destroyed in the act, saving the ODP for a little bit longer. The Orbital MAC guns are targeted by several light cruisers and are obliterated except for two the Cairo and the Alexander but not before five of the Covenant ships are destroyed and one crippled.

The Point of No Return cloaked, as they weren't equipped for dogfighting with the larger Covenant Warships, and they move close to one of the non-operational Orbital Defenses Platforms to watch the battle unfold and to radio what the Covenant were doing to the UNSC Leviathan. The UNSC Leviathan is the same class as the UNSC Infinity, except it isn't carrying any of the extra ships it can. The UNSC ships and the Covenant ships had all launched their fighters and they were dogfights happening all throughout space, around the ships and the Orbital Platforms. The Broadswords were proving a pain in the ass for the Covenant fighters. The other two UNSC ships were destroyed by multiple Covenant ships but not before they took three with them, and dozens Covenant fighters, out of the fight with two being destroyed and the third cripple to a point it was unable to fire its main weapons. The two remaining Orbital Defense platforms have destroyed ten covenant ships, and thanks to the shields, they have survived; but the shields on the Alexander were falling fast while the Cairo was holding steadily so far. The Brave New World bridge crew watched as a Covenant ship docked with the Cairo 2, which controlled all the new Orbital Defense platforms, and heard transmissions from the UNSC forces guarding it before they stopped. The UNSC Leviathan had taken multiple hits from Covenant ships but they manage to destroy eight more ships.

The 4 MAC guns have obliterated Covenant shields and ships until all of sudden a new Covenant ship emerged from slip space, twice the size of the Super carrier, and deployed a dozen Light Cruisers and a corvette. The Leviathan fired its MAC guns, which obliterates the Light Cruisers, and then the new Covenant ship return fire dropping the Leviathan's shields to 49%. The Leviathan returns fire with its MACs, but the Covenant ship remains intact, to the surprise of the crew. The Alexander fired its Super MAC at the Covenant ship, but still nothing happened. Eight Covenant ships headed towards the Alexander, whose MAC gun is still charging, then the Cairo fired and destroyed two, then the Alexander fired and destroying two more; but before another salvo could be fired the Alexander was turn to molten slag. The Cairo fired again and destroying another two. The captain of the Leviathan decided to ram the new Covenant super-ship. He ordered all but those that choice to stay of the bridge crew to abandon ship. He informed the captain of the Brave New World to watch what happened and then get to the nearest UNSC base on Earth and inform them what happened. The Leviathan went full blast towards the Covenant ship, ramming through a light cruiser and destroying it. The Leviathan fired everything it has upon reaching the enemy new super-ship before ramming it. The captain of the Leviathan had no clue his heroic sacrifice had no effect on the enemy ship except a small vibration in the shields. The Covenant then turned their attention onto the Cairo, which had destroyed five more Covenant vessels, and instead of destroying the Cairo, the new ship docked with it.

Firefights sprung out through the Cairo as the defenders gave the technicians' time to lock the Covenant out of the Cairo systems, so they can't use the weapons, or the shields, against any UNSC counter-attack and then abandon the Cairo. Escape pods were launched, but only 23 pods made it off the station and headed for UNSC bases throughout Earth. Some of the escape pods from both the Leviathan and the Cairo crashed, but the vast majority of them made it to the surface and the pilots manage to land them. The Brave New World watched as the surviving Covenant ships formed a small blockade around the planet to keep any UNSC ship that might arrive from reaching Earth. Captain Takenov of the Brave New World watched as four Covenant ships headed for Mombasa, again, while four headed for Antarctica, and another five headed for the Spartan Base. The Brave New World headed to a shipyard in Paris, France, which had a huge tower that was twice the size of one of the World Trade Centers, where UNSC military and merchant ships could dock. The tower was defended by 8 MAC turrets, several missile batteries, and Scythe Anti-Aircraft guns.

Back at Spartan HQ, once they reached the bunker, they were surrounded by fourteen marines. Once the marines recognized them they were allowed to enter. They headed to the control room where Cortana and April's images appeared on a hollow projector.

"Good to see you again." they said to the two Spartans.

"Does the rest of the UNSC know about this Covenant attack?" The colonel asked.

"Our Communications are down colonel, but we should have them back up soon."

"Don't worry about it, we're leaving the base soon." Heath told them. "Cortana tell me what happen."

"The fleet and the operational ODP's managed to destroy more than a dozen Covenant ships, but thirty-five are still up there, before the fleet was vaporized, along with the operational ODP's. They sent ships to Antarctica, Mombasa, as well as here." April said.

"How do you this if communications are down?"

"The UNSC Brave New World arrived in Paris and informed Admiral Nimitz about the Covenant attack, and he sent out a message to all UNSC forces warning everyone of a Covenant attack before communication went done. The only parts of the communications that are down are sending messages." April responded.

"I thank his warning was a little late for some places." A marine technician said.

"We did manage to destroy two enemy ships when they attacked with our two MACs on base, but they were destroyed after their first shot. I take credits for that, and two more were destroyed when they attack New Mombasa." April answered.

"You mean we take credit because we both took out the Covenant ships." Cortana said and April gave a sigh.

"That is where you are wrong; they are not here to destroy the planet, but to enslave your people. They attacked this base because they fear you. This is just a pre-invasion force, more will be on their way soon, just like when our forces attack Reach." The Arbiter told them.

"How many Spartans survived and what's the situation?" Spartan-118 asked.

"You mean here or throughout the UNSC?" Cortana asked. April knew exactly what the colonel was asking.

"Including you, Spartan-117 John, Spartan-119 Clare, Spartan-104 Fred, Spartan-087 Kelly, Spartan-058 Linda, Spartan-046 Andy, Spartan-B292 Tom, Spartan-B091 Lucy, Spartan-G099 Ash, Spartan-120 Jason, Spartan-121 Sam, Spartan-123 Suzan, and Spartan-197 Will are all that survived the Covenant Bombardment." April answered. "The three that went with Dr. Halsey, a further two hundred eighty at other locations on Earth, including the Hell-hounds, and Zodiac Team are all the Spartans that are left on Earth."

"What about Ash, Mark, and Olivia?" Tom-B292 asked.

"They are at Alamo 1 I believe." April answered.

"Who are the Hell-Hounds?" John-117 asked.

"Another group of Spartan-IV on other assignments." Cortana answered.

"What's our situation?" John asked.

"The situation is this; thirty-five Covenant ships are in orbit and are dropping troops here in East Africa. UNSC forces on this continent are being overrun and are falling back to hidden military bases or larger military installations." April told them. "Except for the larger UNSC Military Installations that are protected by MAC Guns."

"April, you already told us how many Covenant ships are in orbit." Kelly said.

"I was just seeing if you were paying attention."

"Why are they massing here near New and Old Mombasa and not anywhere else?" Jason asked.

"They believe there's more Forerunner artifacts burying here." April replied. "The Covenant don't believe that the other cities are worth their attention yet."

"I thought you said that our communications were down."

"They are, we can receive messages but can't send them. The satellites still work fine though."

"Are they targeting civilian population areas?"

"No, only military installations here in East Africa, but as UNSC forces leave they are being left alone." April told them.

"Strange the Covenant has changed their tactics again." Heath said.

"That will because of their New High Prophet." the Arbiter replied.

"Ma'am, the Covenant are drilling down to us." a technician told them.

"They will be down here within minutes." the chief said to everyone.

"Let's get our armor on chief." The colonel said to the Master Chief before they headed to the armory. They found several rows of Spartan armor. The Master Chief saw his new MJOLNIR armor since his old one had all kinds of dents and blast marks all over it. He was helped by a few technicians to put it on. He walked over to a holo projector and ejected Cortana into a chip before he placed the chip into the back of his helmet. Her voice came over his internal speakers.

"Chief, this is the MJOLNIR Mark VII. They have made a few adjustments to the armor."

"What are they?" He asked.

"The new shielding can take more damage than before, even from two direct hits from a Hunters fuel rod cannon won't drain it completely, a new motion detector, new health monitors, and new NV and thermal scopes for camouflaged Elites and Brutes." The colonel placed his armor on with the help of technicians, then he placed April into the back of his helmet. April's voice came over his internal speakers.

"Your suit has more improvements in it as well." she told him. "There are new motion sensors, an energy sword built into your left hand, new shields that are better than your old ones and lots of other stuff too." The other Spartan-II's had on their Mark VII armor as well. The Spartan-III's had on the MJONIR Mark IV which was the same armor the Spartan-III's of Noble team used on Reach. Most of the Spartan-IV's that survived are in Mark V armor. The base armory was huge; there were racks of MA5B's, MA5C's, BR85's, and all kinds of weapons and ammo. Heath walked over to one of the gun racks. He saw his old friend, the MA5B Assault Rifle, and grabbed it of the rack; He never liked the new MA5C. Half the clip was never something he liked; He preferred the 60 round clips over the 32; twice the bullets, twice the amount to kill Covenant with. He wished the new MA5D assault rifle was here. He had test fired it at an UNSC weapons factory in Berlin, Germany and he liked the new 98 round clip, and for even more Covenant killing it could mount a grenade launcher or shotgun underneath the barrel, as well as a flashlight. The next thing he garbed was an M90 8 Gauge Shotgun and two sidearm for his two leg holsters. Linda picked up her SRS99 2 AM Sniper Rifle. She was the best sniper in the Spartans, as well as in the whole UNSC. She also choose to bring a sidearm along with her. The Master Chief pick a MA5C and two M7 SMGs. Every Spartan grabbed weapons, some grabbed the BR85 Battle Rifle and others the DMR. They also grabbed grenades and ammo and placed them in mag and grenade holders that magnetized them to their armor and won't come off unless they remove them.

"Let's get out of here." The colonel yelled.

"Sir yes sir." they replied before heading back to the control room. They saw about twenty marines heading straight for them.

"What's going on marines?"

"Sir." They stop once they notice his MJOLNIR Mark VII armor. "The Covenant has entered the base through several breech points and we couldn't stop them before they took over the main control room."

"Where they able to get into our systems to access our files?" the Colonel asked.

"Sir no sir." a marine answered. "As soon as we saw them trying to access our files we fried the systems with a new EMP pulse that only took out the systems in the room."

"They're right behind us sir, I suggest we move," another marine tells them

"Very good, let's head for the Pelican and Longsword bays." The colonel said. So they headed for the bays.

"Chief, I'm picking up movement, dead ahead." Cortana said into his helmet and then chief told the colonel. The colonel and Spartan-087 Kelly went up ahead. Their motion sensors picked up a hostile contact ahead. Spartan-118 thought it might be a cloak Elite so He drew his side arm and fired several rounds at the cloaked figure. The figures shield fell and the last slug punched through the Elite's forehead, blowing brains and purple blood onto the wall behind the dead alien. They approached the dead Sangheili but then they saw more hostile contacts as at least ten Elites surrounded them.

"I should have known this might have been a trap." the colonel said to himself.

* * *

 **I would like to think my Beta Reader thearizona for his help in correcting and making this story better.** **Please Favorite, follow, or review or all 3.**

 **to be continued...**


	4. Chapter 4: Battle of Spartan HQ Part 2

**Disclaimer: Regular Disclaimer applied**

* * *

Chapter 4

The Battle of Spartan HQ Part 2

Meanwhile Lord Hood, along with several ODSTs, were fighting off Covenant forces in the auditoriums. Lord Hood had made a surprise visit to Spartan HQ right before the Covenant choose to attack. One marine was shot in the heart and he was dead before he even hit the ground. The marine fired their submachine guns and assault rifles at the Covenant. One marine tossed a frag grenade behind some Jackals, spraying the wall with blood. A Hunter pair entered the room and fired their Fuel Rod cannons at the marines cover, melting it. A marine fired two rockets at the Hunters, but Brutes stepped into the path of the missiles, killing them instead of the Hunters. A Grunt then fired its Needler at the marine holding the smoking M41 SRR, blowing a huge hole in the man's chest. "Roger!" A marine yelled and went to the man's side. The marine was coughing up blood and trying to speak. A Hunter comes up to the marine and hit him with his huge shield, breaking every bone in his body, before the Hunter brought his huge foot down onto the other marines face. An ODST snapped an Unggoy's neck with his bare hands, but a Brute punched the guy in the face, and then he shot him with his Spiker. Marines on the balcony fired a chain gun at the Hunters. One of the Hunter went down from a hail of lead, but the other Hunter raised its Fuel Rod Cannon at the ODSTs on the balcony and fired; there was nothing left of them, not even a boot. A Brute threw a spike grenade at one marine and it stuck to him, he was torn to shreds when the grenade detonated. Lord Hood turned to the last surviving marines.

"Go and get help, we'll hold them here." Lord Hood told one of the marines, and he left to get help, but he doesn't make it far before an Elite with an Energy Sword kills him. Grunts charged at Lord Hood and the surviving marines' position and were meet with Lord Hood and the marines fired their MA5Cs at the Grunts, killing a whole bunch of them, but they kept coming. As the Grunts started to climb over the barricade and into the auditorium's store room, a marine picked up a M90A shotgun and started to blast the Grunts as they climbed over the barricade. Two Sangheili climbed over the barricade, the marine shot one of the Elites in the head with his shotgun but the other Elite stabbed the marine. The other marines are all shot in the face by a third Elite. Lord Hood tried to fire his pistol, but it only made a clicking sound so he surrendered to the red armored Elites.

Meanwhile, Spartan-118 Heath and Spartan-087 Kelly were surrounded by ten to twelve Elites with stealth technology. "I should have remembered what Chief Mendez taught us; that we should always anticipate that there will be more hidden." he told Kelly. She just nods her head.

"Demons lay down your arms." the colonel's language translation software said as the Sangheili yelled it out to the two Spartans.

"What do you think, go out with a bang?" The colonel asked Kelly. She brought up her assault rifle and the colonel followed her as they fired their assault rifles at the camouflage Elites. Some of the Elites' shields flickered and died then rounds tore into their armor and flesh. An Elite cut the colonels assault rifle in two so he pulled out his M6 and fired it at the Elite. The first three rounds killed his shields and the final round delivered the knockout punch. Then he fired another three round burst at another Elite. The Elites fired their plasma rifles and Needlers at the two Demons. They just hit their shields and the two Spartans continue to fire as they noticed their shields were dropping, but they start to recharge slowly while under fire. Spartan-087 ran up to an Elite with an energy sword and she grabbed his hand with the blade and snapped the Elites wrist, then made him stab himself in the throat. A plasma bolt hit her square on the shoulder so she turned around and shot the Grunt with her M6 pistol. The bullet hit the Grunt major in the head. Spartan-118 drew his energy sword and slashed an Elites neck. The colonel picked up another MA5B assault rifle from a dead ODST. Then an Elite jumped onto the colonels back and started bunching him on the left side of his helmet. The sudden Elite caused the colonel to drop his assault rifle, so he ignited his energy sword and stabbed the Elite in the head and threw him off. Then they continue to fire their MA5's at the enemy and after two minutes, all the Elites laid dead.

"Ali Ali oxen free." he said into his radio. Soon after, the chief, the other Spartans, the Arbiter, and all the marines appeared at the all clear signal the colonel said and continued towards the vehicle and hanger bays. They could hear Grunts and Jackals behind them, and along the way they found dead Covenant along the hallway towards the hanger bays. The Grunts and the Jackals were filled with bullet holes. They approached a barricade with marines stationed, two marines were manning a chain gun. The rest of the marines were armed with MA5B assault rifles and BR55 Battle Rifles. Some of the marines were armed with shotguns, submachine guns and the M6G pistols

"Chief placed some mines in the hallway." The colonel said to him. He saluted and then he and Spartan-104 placed mines along the way they have come. The chief spotted a Jackal's shadow coming around a corner, he brought his pistol up and when the Jackal came around the corner he shot the Jackal dead center in the head. He killed two more that came around the corner in the same way.

"Chief, I'm picking up movement to your left." Cortana said to him. He unslung his MA5 assault rifle and prepared to fire. However, his motion tractor showed yellow contacts, friendlies.

Eight ODST were with another man who was not on armor. The ODSTs gave the chief a nod. "Admiral Grayson what are you doing here?" the chief said to the other man.

"That's not important right now Chief, we need to rescue Lord Hood before we leave this base otherwise the covenant will use him to gather information on all the new equipment we been working on."

"Where is he sir?" The chief asked as he opened up a channel so all the other Spartans could hear him.

"Four levels below us, he is being guarded by Brutes." He answered. "Where is Spartan-118?"

"I'll take you to him sir." the chief replied. The admiral followed the chief to where the colonel, the other Spartans, and the others were waiting. Everybody snapped to attention when the admiral entered the room.

"Good to see you again colonel." the admiral said to him.

"When did I meet you sir" the colonel ask politely.

"We met right before you left with the chief to the Ark. You saved me and my men's lives that day from the Covenant and from the Flood."

"That's right you were a commander at the time." The colonel answered. The admiral proceeded to tell the colonel about Lord Hood. "Very well we'll use the ventilation shafts to get down there."

"I agree, but someone needs to stay here to guard the entrance to the hanger bay and to the vehicles bay," The admiral remarks.

"Very well, the Spartan-IVs and the Spartan-IIIs will remain here with Spartan-058 and Spartan-104 with three squads of marines." The colonel told the admiral. "The master chief, Kelly, the captain, you, your men, two squads of marines, and myself shall go and rescue Lord Hood."

"Colonel, we should also be looking for additional survivors." Admiral Grayson said to him.

"Yes sir." the colonel replied. "Captain Doolittle, take four ODSTs and see if you can't find any more survivors."

"Yes sir." Captain Doolittle replied before leaving. The Covenant launched a surprise attack on the barricade before they could get into the ventilation shaft they were going to use to get around. The marines on the chain guns opened fire and riddled the Grunts and Elites with bullets. An Elite threw a plasma grenade at the marine holding the chain gun, but a Spartan stepped in front of the grenade and it only weaken the Spartan's shield. The Spartan then grabbed a mini-gun from a crate that he open and started poured hot lead into the Covenant troops. The Jackals overlapped their shields and one marine aimed for the weak spot in the shields and when a shield were up in the air, he nailed that Jackal in the head before three plasma bolts hit him in the head.

"Spartans, throw you grenades over their shields." the admiral ordered. The Master Chief, Spartan-104, and the colonel primed plasma grenades and threw it over their shields. The blasts from the plasma grenades killed the Jackals and weakened the Elites shields that were standing to close. The marines and the Spartans killed the Elites with their assault rifles. Two Hunters appeared so a marine grabbed a rocket launcher and fired it at the first hunter. The first rocket hit the Hunter straight in the face, killing it. Then he fired a second missile at the other Hunter, but it brought its shield up in time. The Spartan with the mini-gun fired at the hunter's flank and the Hunter fell down dead. The rest of the Covenant retreated. Many Grunts were killed by the Spartan holding the mini-gun as they retreated. They opened up the ventilation shaft and start to crawl around.

"I hope we don't have to go through a fan." A marine spoke out loud.

"Keep your voices down, there could be Covenant below us." April told them over the radio.

Lord Hood was surrounded by four Brutes and one Brute Chieftain with a gravity hammer. There were Grunts and Jackals patrolling the hallways and the area where they were holding him. "What do you want from me?" Lord Hood demanded from his captors. They didn't answer.

The rescue team was still crawling through the ventilation shafts. They could hear Sangheili talking with other Sangheili and issuing orders to Unggoy and Kig-Yar. "We have to hit them all at once." The Chief told them. The Spartans and the marines nodded in agreement. Two Spartans and a squad of marines headed for the exit out of the ventilation shafts. They prepared to exit as the others got ready to throw flash bangs into the mass of Covenant below them to temporary blind them so they can drop down from the shaft. They threw the flash bangs down there, the Covenant where temporary blinded so the Spartans hit them. They fired their assault weapons and the bullets tore into the Brutes and Elites armor and they fell down. Grunts ran in disarray, but were also cut down. The Chief breaks several of the Grunts necks with his bare hands. The colonel attacked the Brute Chieftain by firing at his head. The Chieftain killed a marine with his hammer trying to get to heath, but the colonel killed him in the end. Then the colonel picked up the gravity hammer.

"This might come in handy." The colonel said to himself.

"Lord Hood, are you okay sir?" the Chief asked him.

"Yes, thanks to you and your Spartans." he answered.

"There will be more Covenant on the way, let's get out of here." The colonel told them.

"I quite agree Colonel." Lord Hood replied as they headed for the vehicle bay. They ran into more Covenants along the way to the vehicle bay. The Spartans dispatched the Covenant with their assault rifles. Jackals appeared with their shields already activated so the Spartans threw grenades behind them. When the grenades exploded and killed them all. An Elite was put down by the combine fired of the Master Chief and the colonel. The Elite fell and tried to get up, but fell back down dead. The Grunts that were with the Elite ran away but was shot down by the Spartans. The colonel throws a plasma grenade and it stuck to a Grunt forehead and it detonated killing the Grunt and three others. Once the colonel round a corner he was hit in the face by a Brute. He fell flat onto his ass and the Brute grabbed him by the neck and began choking him, but the Chief shot him in the head with his M6 pistol. Another Brute appeared and tackled the Master Chief, but the colonel stabbed the Brute in the back with his energy sword. They made it back to the barricade after two more firefights with Covenant Grunts and Jackals. Four marines that went with them lay dead in the base. Once they made it to the barricade they found more Grunts and Brutes in front of the barricade, all dead.

"Were there any human casualties?" Lord Hood asked Spartan-104.

"Yes sir," he replied. "We lost three."

"Cortana, activate the self-destruct we're not leaving this base in the hands of the Covenant." Lord Hood said to Cortana.

"Roger." she answered. They headed to the hanger bay. Four Grunts blocked their path, but the ODSTS dispatched them with head shots. They made it to the hanger bay where Lord Hood saw his daughter with several ODSTS and some pilots pinned down by Covenant Snipers. Two pilots went down from the Covenant snipers and an ODST took a plasma blast to the face.

"Chief, Colonel take those snipers out!" Lord Hood told them. They aimed their BR55 rifle at the Jackals and dispatched them quickly.

"We have a company coming down the hallway!" a marine yelled from the back. Colonel Heath-118 went back and sprayed the Grunts that were coming down the hallway with his MA5B assault rifle and then placed a Lotus Anti-tank mine down and set it for proximity fuse.

"April what type of ships are those?" heath asked once he got back.

"Accessing UNSC aerial vehicles," April said over the colonel's private com. "It's a Longsword Transport fighter, it can be used as a fighter, a transport or a command vehicle with six gun ports protecting the ship. It can hold a crew of 4 in the cockpit plus twenty-five additional people in the back."

"Where are the gun-ports located?"

"This ship has two gun ports on the top, two on the left side, and two on the right side. This also has missiles and the same type of gun that's on the regular Longswords."

"Quickly get in!" Spartan-118 orders. Spartan-117, Spartan-123, Spartan-104, Admiral Grayson, Spartan-058, three marines, three friendly Sangheili, and six ODSTs got in one Longsword transport fighter. Spartan-119, Spartan-121, Spartan-197, four marines, and three ODSTs boarded another Longsword fighter. Spartan-118, Spartan-087, Spartan-121, Lord Hood, Commander Jenny, ten ODSTs, eight marines, thirteen friendly Sangheili, Spartan-B292, and Spartan-B091 boarded another Longsword fighter. Jenny took the pilot seat and the colonel took the copilot seat. The rest of the Spartans and marines boarded Pelicans. The Pelicans were already equipped with vehicles. The colonel noticed that underneath the other two Longsword Transport fighters they had vehicles attached so he wondered if they had one attached as well.

"Colonel, the bay doors are not opening!" the chief said over the com.

"Who needs a door?" the colonel replied before he fired a Longswords missile that blew the hanger bay doors open. They left the base and blow past several Banshees. "Where are we going to now sir?"

"Take us to Antarctica," Lord Hood replied. "We must rescue Dr. Halsey and Chief Mendez along with the 300 base personal." they went on their way to Antarctica and they heard the base explode.

"I hope that kill a lot of those Covenant basters," a marine said. "No offense Arbiter."

"None taken," the Arbiter replied.

* * *

 **I like to think thearizona for beta reading my story. Please favorite, follow and review.**


	5. Chapter 5: Battle of Outpost 5 Part 1

**Disclaimer: Regular Disclaimer applies.**

* * *

Battle for Outpost 5

Part 1

After the end of the Human-Covenant War, UNSC High Command decided to build outposts around the city of New Mombasa after it was rebuilt. The public didn't know why this was done, but some members of High Command believed the Covenant may return one day. One reason is to have UNSC Soldiers close to the city if it ever comes under attack. The only two UNSC Bases near New Mombasa were Rat's Nest and Fort Avery Johnson. However, after 15 years most of those outpost were torn down, leaving only 5 standing. The remaining 5 outposts were undermanned with Outpost 5, the closest to New Mombasa, only had about 100 men to defend it. The layout of the base is a square with a guard tower in each corner and four towers around the Command bunker. It has eight buildings with the barracks and armory being underground, along with the vehicle bay. The North Wall is a wall of sandbags with razor wire above it, the east wall is a trench that is waist high with some sandbags for additional cover. The other walls are reinforced concrete and have battlements similar to a castle walls. The gate has a gatehouse where soldiers can drop grenades down and into the attackers' ranks. The gate itself is reinforce Titanium C Plates which can stand numerous plasma attacks. Most of the area around the outpost is desert, though on north side is a small forest. UNSC forces placed wire and a minefield around the base, except on the east side as the enemy would have to attack uphill, giving the defenders the advantage. They do have some wire and mines a few yards in front of the wall. The base has three Scythe M71 Anti-Aircraft Guns, a Mass Driver, and 4 Wolf Spiders, two at the front of the gate and two guarding the command bunker. They have a landing strip for Pelicans and other transports outside of the main gate and on the right side of the dirt road leading to the base. The base has pads for Hornets which is the only air support they have.

 **Three days before the Second Human-Covenant War begins:**

A Pelican Drop ship arrived at Outpost 5 and a dozen new recruits walked off the transport with their duffle bags and weapons. They were sent from Fort Johnson after they finished basic at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. They head to the barracks and begin stowing their gear after they found empty bunks not belonging to anyone else on the base. All of sudden they heard a gunshot and seek cover.

"If I was an enemy you would have all been killed. Welcome to Outpost 5 Maggots, you've been sent here to reinforce us in preparation of a Covenant attack." The troopers were stunned as they hadn't heard about any attack. The sergeant major started to laugh and the new recruits realized he was joking with them.

"You mean the planet hasn't been attack again?" one of the new recruits asked.

"What's your name Maggot?" He asked.

"Private Greg Caldwell," he answered.

"If the earth was attacked trust me, we would know," he answered. "Now listen up Maggots, I may have joked around a little bit but I hate the color green and you all reek of the damn color. I'm sure many of you haven't ever held a rifle and basic was the first time you ever held, much less saw, a weapon. I'm a strict Son of Bitch and it's my job to keep you alive, but I might not succeed with all of you." They didn't feel reassured. "If I was an Elite you would have all been killed. Never put all your weapons on the rack; always keep one weapon where you can get to it at all time. Captain "Jarhead" George has all personal wear a sidearm at all times."

"Sir, why is he called Jarhead George?" another private asked.

"He used to be in the UNSC Marine Corps before he retired in 2554, but he hated civilian life so he tried to rejoin, but he suffered an injury and the Marines wouldn't take him back, so that's how we got him."

"I like to know my greenhorn so I can always send a nice letter to their families when they expire." He said with a chuckle before He points to a Private.

"Private Gregory Caldwell, my friends call me Greg," he said.

"Private First Class Rashad Thomas."

"Private Scott Rafalko."

"PFC Laree Alford."

"PFC David Alexander."

"Corporal Brian Golf."

"PFC Tommy Key."

"Private Beth Key." The rest of the new recruits introduced themselves. 10 boys and 2 girls, the other girl's named is Ginny Hook.

"Welcome once again to Outpost 5, I'm Sergeant Major Cody Blackman, I'm the senior NCO of Lieutenant Tigh's platoon," he told them.

"What squad are we in sergeant Major?" Private Beth King asked.

"No one talks while I'm talking maggot! Now drop and give me thirty push-ups."

"Yes sergeant major," she said as She got down and begun doing the thirty push-ups.

"As I was saying before I was interrupted, you're in Domino Squad which has three other squad mates who are on a run with another platoon sergeant. Let me introduce you to your squad sergeant; this here is Staff Sergeant Tom Ryan. Another veteran, like myself, from the Human-Covenant War. We're both tough son of bitches and like me he doesn't take shit from anyone. Now Staff Sergeant Ryan is going to take you on a run of this base so you can familiarize yourself with the locations of the mess hall, firing range, gym, infirmary, and the motor pool. Take them out staff sergeant."

"Yes sergeant major," he replied. They leave the barracks and began their run singing an army cadence. After they do their run they reported to the barracks.

"You will report to the Sim Room in 6 minutes. Get on your combat gear and grab you weapons and be there on time. If your late, well trust me you, don't want to be late." He said before leaving. Four minutes later the new members of Domino Squad arrived at the Sim building. Sergeant Major Blackman and Staff Sergeant Ryan are already there. They weren't surprised to see a majority of the greenhorns had MA37 Assault Rifles, two have the new M5A4 AR (next gen. version of the M4 carbine), two are armed with sniper rifles, one being the bolt action Intervention II Sniper Rifle, and 2 have the M739 SAW and the rest have DMRs.

"Line up maggots! Today's SIM is to defend this outpost from an attack."

"Who's attacking Sergeant Major?" Private First Class Key asked.

"The Covenant will be the attacking enemy," he told them. "Let's see how you maggots do. Hera, begin the simulation." The outpost A.I. appeared on a hologram table. "Beginning Simulation in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." The area around them turned into an exact replica of the outpost. The soldiers had their helmets on and glasses which functioned as their HUDs. Sergeant Major Blackman sent the snipers to the towers then he dived remaining men up to defend the perimeter. PFC Key aims through the scope of his Intervention Sniper rifle which fires the same round as the standard UNSC Sniper Rifle. He preferred a bolt action over semi-auto because it keeps him from wasting ammo as every bullet must hit the intended target.

"Sergeant Major, I got enemy infantry advancing towards Eastern Wall." His first target is the leading Elite, he doesn't know the ranks of the Elites or any of the other Covenant species, but this one is in crimson red armor. His bullet hits the Elite in the head and blows it apart. The first wave is decimated. The recruits cheered, but they heard a scream and PFC Key falls out of the tower. Private Caldwell gets up from the trench to get him but he's hit by Covenant snipers. Private King contacts the sergeant major and tell him they have two people down. "I'm aware of the situation private," the sergeant major said. The Covenant then attack the Northern wall and Covenant snipers keep southern wall busy. After about 30 minutes the simulation ends when everyone was killed. They didn't even get pass the 3rd wave. Sergeant Major Blackman has them line-up again.

"That was the worst I've ever seen! You maggots don't know how to work as a team, the Covenant, hell any organized military could overwhelm you. What did they teach you in basic? Teamwork is key to any situation. Snipers, you have overwatch, so you tell your teammates were the enemy is, but always look out for enemy snipers. Did they send you to sniper school or just gave you a sniper rifle because you scored high on your marksman test? You know what, I don't care. we're going to try it again. Communicate with one another. If you panic in a fight and run you cost the lives of everyone, including your own. This Sim is to make things fill real because combat is hell. Hera run the Sim again." The Sim begins again. Sergeant Major Blackman didn't participate in the SIM he wanted to watch to see what he needs to do to get his men ready. They improved some, but the 4th wave with Hunters and Wraiths caused them to panic. He yells at them again, this time pointing out the rocket launchers, Spartan Laser and target locator that could've been used or the vehicles to take care of the Wraiths and Hunters and they would've beaten them back. They tried a third time but they failed when Banshees, Phantoms, and Sprits are brought in along with everything else. However they are coming together as a team and they're communicating with one another and the third time they didn't panic, they held their ground. He knows they still have some work to do.

"Sergeant Ryan, take them to the firing range and let them fire off some live rounds for a while, then send them to get some chow." He nods. Sergeant Major Blackman goes to see Echelon Squad NCO Sergeant Terry Crow. Echelon squad is also part of Lieutenant Tigh's platoon. After chow they headed back to the barracks. The other 3 members of Domino Squad are present. Staff Sergeant Ryan entered.

"Listen up ladies, we're going on a nighttime stroll so grab your gear." They grabbed their packs and their rifles before throwing their packs over their backs and heading outside. They get into formation and Sergeant Major Blackman and Staff Sergeant Ryan are in front of the formation. They begin their march the gates open and they exit. They have no clue where they're going.

"I want no lights, but you may use your Night Vision to see."

"Sir Yes sir," they reply. They marched for what seem like hours until Sergeant Major Blackman orders them to halt. "I want sentries posted around the encampment, no fires." Six recruits are selected for sentry duty by Staff Sergeant Ryan. Staff Sergeant Ryan and Sergeant Major Blackman leave the recruits alone.

"You know Cody, some of these recruits will fall asleep while on guard duty." Sergeant Major Blackman smiles.

"I'm counting on it Tom but after tonight they won't fall asleep on guard duty ever again," he replied. "Tell Echelon squad they can attack at their own discretion." He nods and radios Echelon squad leader. At midnight the sentries on guard duty go and wakeup their relief, so they can get some sleep. Staff Sergeant Ryan turns towards his longtime friend.

"The first group of sentries did an excellent job staying awake. Only one fell asleep for a few seconds until he woke himself up." Cody didn't reply. The first watch show their replacements were to setup for the night and warn them not to fall asleep. Three hours into the 2nd shift the sentries are all asleep. Around 0500 Echelon squad attacked Domino squad's encampment. They throw grenades which wake almost everyone up. The sentries wake up and head back to the camp but Echelon squad wipes out Domino before they even had a chance to react. Staff Sergeant Ryan gets them into formation while Blackman thanks Echelon squad for their help. Staff Sergeant Ryan is already yelling at the recruits who fell asleep. "All of you drop down and give me 100 push-ups." They assume the position.

"Delay that staff sergeant." The soldiers get back up with smiles on their face. "Wipe that fucking smile off your face! I didn't say you were off the hook. I want each recruit to empty out their backpacks and replace the items with the largest rocks they can find, we're going on a run. I want each maggot to take a swig of water and then dump it." Tom looks at him. The recruits do as their sergeant major ordered. They begin their run with backpacks full of rocks, their weapon, and ammo. Some soldiers attempt to get a swallow of water but forgot it's empty. They arrived at a spring and Sergeant Major Blackman allows them to refill their canteens and get some water then they head back to the campsite with empty backpacks, once they return all their gear back to their backpacks they head back to Outpost 5.

 **Two days before the Covenant invasion**

After the events during the early hours of morning Domino squad is worn out and just want to fall asleep but Sergeant Major Blackman has other ideas. However Staff Sergeant Ryan sends them to the barracks and the soldiers collapse on the bed from exhaustion, but their sleep is cut short because 2 hours later they're being awaken by two other sergeants. The recruits lined up in front of the bunks. "Ladies we have more training today so I want you shower and on the parade ground in 3 minutes!" tom told them. They hurry to the showers. The men in the squad watch the females wash themselves but quickly washed. They arrive on the parade ground 2 minutes late which made both sergeants not happy.

"Recruits! What the hell took you so long to get out here? Was it because you were thinking about fucking your female comrades or you just like watching them shower and dress."

"No excuse staff sergeant," they chant.

"Outstanding recruits you are learning," he said with a smile but the sergeant major isn't smiling.

"Assume the position maggots!" Sergeant Major Blackman said.

"What position sergeant major?" Private Rafalko asked whose mind was still on about fucking the girls.

"Why the push-up position private dumb ass get your fucking head out of the dam clouds," the sergeant major said.

"Sergeant major, you're treating us like we're in basic training again," PFC Thomas said.

"You're in my basic training maggot, and I'm your new drill instructor," he replied. "I was going to be generous and have you only do a 100 push-ups but since these two know it all I'm going to have you do 200 push-ups." He said with a laugh. "Now assume the God Dam Position!" they get into the position and begin when Staff Sergeant Ryan told them too. After their two hundredth push-up they had to do 50 sit-ups. They're allow a few minutes to rest and get some water then they begin to run around the base. Sergeant Major Blackman calls a halt after only 45 minutes into their run.

"When I give the command I want you to fall out head back to your barracks shower and then report to the SIM building, you have 5 minutes starting now." They hurried to the barracks shower and get ready they don't want to be punished again. They arrive at the SIM building in 3 minutes.

They enter the SIM building and the Artificial Intelligence Hera appeared. "Domino squad, you will be competing with Echelon Squad today. The mission is simple, defend the outpost against as many waves of enemies as possible in the given time limit or until all teammates are dead. NCOs will not be competing in this mission. Pick your squad leader who will then join Echelon squad leader for a coin toss to see who will go first. Domino squad picks Corporal Golf. They meet and toss the coin, Domino squad chooses heads but it was tails so Echelon squad gets to go first. Echelon squad enters. They hold off seven waves until they overrun. Domino squad is shocked when Hera displays Echelon team members' scores, kills, and medals. Domino squad gears up and heads towards the main room passing Echelon squad. Many members of Echelon squad told Domino squad members' good luck. Sergeant Major Blackman and Staff Sergeant Tom Ryan as well as the members of Echelon squad watched as Domino Squad begins their SIM. Domino squad actually got through the seventh wave by taking the Jackal Shield gauntlets from them and the portable energy shields Elites and Brutes were carrying. The 8th wave is where they things got sticky since the Covenant used mostly Elites and Brute with power armor to attack plus it was a night attack with engineers giving the Elites and Brutes over-shields. However both sergeants are proud of Domino squad, even Echelon squad clapped. Sergeant Major Blackman has the squad line-up. He congratulates them and then sends them to get chow and then to bed.

The next day Domino squad is give a much easier time. They spent time on the firing range practicing with their primary and secondary firearms but also how to fire, clean and unjammed the various machine guns spread throughout the base. They are also instructed on the basic operation of each vehicle the base has. However their training is interrupted by a loud alarm. The captain's voice appears over the PA."The Covenant have return, we don't know their full intentions but we do know that Spartan HQ has been destroyed as well as the Home Fleet. The covenant are attacking New Mombasa and at this moment we're at war. Our orders are to hold this position for 14 days then fallback to Outpost 4. I know you will do your duty." The captain hangs up the microphone and many think it's a joke but some soldiers turned on their radios and they hear the reports coming in and know it's not a joke. The new recruits are shocked, but now they'll be able to kill some Covenant for real. The two platoon leaders and senior NCOs go to a conference room to discuss their defensive strategy while Sergeant Major Blackman sends the squad to the SIM building to practice some more. Echelon Squad and other squads are also in the SIM building to practice the outpost defend scenario. The platoon leaders and the senior NCOs enter the briefing room. The captain enters a few minutes later and everyone goes to attention and salute. He returns the salute.

"Once the Covenant finish with driving UNSC forces away from the city they'll be heading here. I need your suggestions for what we can do to keep the Covenant from overrunning us for 14 days," he told them. "Eastern and Northern wall are by far the weakest positions we have."

"We can always build a ditch around the entire outpost," Lieutenant Porter suggested.

"Lay down a shitload of mines," Staff Sergeant Ryan suggest.

"Place more wire and other obstacles to slow their advance down, Lieutenant Tigh said.

"Take the armaments off a few of the warthogs to strengthen the perimeter," First Sergeant Todd Napper suggest.

"I suggest we planet mines in spots the enemy will likely placed their Wraith tanks most notably on the hill surrounding us," Sergeant Major Blackman said.

"We should also dig tank traps, especially along the Eastern and Northern wall," Lieutenant Tigh said.

"Those are all good suggestions and we'll try to get them all done before the Covenant attack us," the captain said. A corporal enters and whispers into the captain's ear. "Gentleman, the Covenant have taken New Mombasa and UNSC forces are in full retreat."

"Are we going to get any reinforcements sir?" Sergeant Major Blackman asked.

"I don't know sergeant major, I've contacted command to see if they can send us help and more ammo but I haven't heard anything back," he answered Blackman's question. "Let's get to work." They leave. Sergeant Major Blackman and Staff Sergeant Ryan go and brief the platoon which include Domino, Echelon and Troublemaker Squad. First Sergeant Deborah Morgan is Troublemaker Squad senior NCO. Only Lieutenant Tigh, Staff Sergeant Tom Ryan, Sergeant Major Blackman, and First Sergeant Morgan have fought the Covenant, the rest have never seen combat against the Covenant. Lieutenant Porter's men has all the veterans except for 1 squad but the veterans are those who are just finishing up their last assignment before they retire from the service, but of course the Covenant changed their plans.

Onboard a Covenant Battlecruiser hovering above New Mombasa a Sangheili Field Marshall is congratulated over his victory. He's informed a Banshee patrol found a UNSC base close enough to strike the city. He contacts the Supreme Commander who told him to crush the base with 30,000 troops, which should be more than enough to overwhelm a force under 100. The Elite Field Marshall selects his most trusted general to lead them, plus a Brute Chieftain who has proven his loyalty to lead a 10 thousand Brutes strong part of the 30,000 troops. However the large force of Covenant don't go unnoticed as they leave New Mombasa UNSC satellites pick them up and transferred the images to command and to Outpost 5 Operation Center.

The Hive, Sydney, Australia UNSC HighCom is shocked to discover the large force of Covenant heading for the outpost. "Send some reinforcements to Outpost 5," Admiral Kenmore said.

"Yes sir but who to send greenhorns or veterans?" another person asked.

"Send the greenhorns, but also send the Hellbringer Squad." He replied.

"Sir, Hellbringer Squad are former Spartan-III's, they have no shields and are just wearing ODST Uniforms, they want last long."

"You'll be surprise what these former Spartans can do and besides, Outpost 5 will need all the help they can get colonel."

"Sir, with your permission I would like to send them a few more vehicles such as the new Juggernaut and a few Mantis's?" another admiral asked. Admiral Kenmore nodded in agreement.

The soldiers at Outpost 5 are getting the outpost ready for the Covenant attack. So far they haven't received any reinforcements so as of right now there are only 102 men against 30 thousand. The outpost perimeter has become the home of the soldiers while the barracks became a hospital. They only have 2 doctors and the rest are medics. They all know the Covenant will be there soon and they have only a small window to prepare for them. Four Albatross's land out in the open field in front of the front gate. Two Warthogs exit from the gate and head towards the Albatross. The captain is surprised to see recruits exiting from the first Albatross. The captain is also shocked to watch three unknown vehicles roll off along with four Mantis's. The rest are filled with supplies however out of the last Albatross 12 soldiers exit in ODST uniforms but their appearance said they're bad asses. Instead of the traditional color of ODST they have desert camouflage incorporated into their uniforms. The supplies are loaded onto the vehicles and are then taken into the outpost. The garrison is now up to 162 soldiers, which still isn't good odds against the 30,000 Covenant infantry heading their way. A squadron of Hornets assigned to the base as their own air support return and landed on their pads. They inform the captain about the Covenant progress so He grabs the microphone.

"Soldiers, the Covenant will be here tonight so continue to work until dust then get chow and get some sleep tonight may be the last night any of us get any sleep." They continue to work as Hellbringer squad also aided their fellow troopers and after dusk they head to the mess hall to grab chow. The sentries remained along with Hellbringer squad. Once they're done with their meal they return and try to get some sleep. Sergeant Major Blackman and Lieutenant Tigh look out into the area that will probably become a battlefield in the morning. They know the reinforcements they received may not even help them since command sent a platoon of greenhorns commanded by a fresh lieutenant, but they're glad to have Hellbringer Squad for support.

The Covenant arrived and begin setting up their own camp. A Sangheili Ultra approaches the general who's on a hill that overlooks the human outpost. "When do we assault the base?"

"Tomorrow, our troops need to rest, they have had a long march," the general replied.

"As you command general," the Elite Ultra replied. The general looks through his equivalent of binoculars. He has to admire the humans despite being vastly outnumbered they're determine to hold their position against a large force, how brave of them. He'll test how brave they really are tomorrow.

* * *

 **This is the first part of the Outpost 5. hope enjoy the chapter please read, review, follow, and favorite. I like to think thearizona for his help beta-reading the story. I also like to think Just-a-grazyman for his review.**


	6. Chapter 6: Battle of Outpost 5 Part 2

**Disclaimer: Halo doesn't belong to me it belongs to 343 Industries and Microsoft**

The Battle of Outpost 5

Part 2

During the night, three Pelicans landed three miles outside the Outposts perimeter and disembarked thirty-six UNSC soldiers, a mix of army and marines, who then marched to the outpost. Captain "Jarhead" George greeted them and welcomed them to Outpost 5 before telling them they were expecting a large Covenant force to attack tomorrow. They had prepared the outpost as best as they could but he doubted they could hold out for 14 days. However, that'll buy the other outpost's time to fortify. The outpost wasn't the only ones to be reinforce as the Covenant troops were reinforce by another 3600 troops.

At dawn the Covenant begin their attack by launching Plasma Mortars at the outpost. The outposts Hornets and other aircraft were destroyed in the bombardment. Some landed short and didn't do any damage, a few hit the minefields, the wire, the ditch and the walls, but no casualties and the Covenant bombardment stops. "Remember the Covenant will send Grunts in first, so hold your fire and let the machineguns and mines do their job." Captain George said over the coms. The Grunts attacked the north and east wall. The machine gunners waited for the Grunts hit the first wire obstacle before opening fire, the Grunts dropping like flies. The Grunts did manage to clear a path through the wire but then thy hit the first parts of the minefield. The Grunts continue to move towards the outpost despite the heavy losses they were receiving. "Grenadiers, use your Launchers and don't let them mass! Snipers, take out their Elite Commanders."

"Those Grunts are going to clear out all the mines before the rest of the Covenant species attack," Private Rashad Thomas said.

"We practiced this in the SIM, so let's kill them before they do clear away all the mines." Somebody replied as some of soldier's fire off a couple of rounds. The Grunts retreated before they hit the second wire obstacle, leaving the approaches to the east and north wall littered with Grunt bodies.

"No human casualties," Captain George said. "A good start." He looked around, still doubting they would be able to hold out for 14 days, but if they keep throwing Grunts at them they may be able to hold for 21 days, maybe more, but he doubts they will keep sending Grunts to attack them.

A Sangheili Ultra walked up to the general. "Sir, the Grunts have failed to breech the human base."

"They weren't supposed to ultra, we're testing their defensive cataplities," the general replied. "Send in the 2nd wave." The Ultra nodded and departed and sent the next wave of Grunts, Jackals, Skirmishers, 2 Hunters and a dozen Elite Minors moving towards the human base.

The machine gunners open fire as soon as they came within range. The Covenant couldn't return fire since their small-arms weapons were still out of range. UNSC snipers watched for enemy marksman, but none showed themselves. They hit very few mines in the first minefield since the Grunts cleared most of them away. Captain George didn't allow his men to fire their small-arms weapons, but some defied his orders, but he expect the new replacements to act that way. The machine-guns fired until they run dry, then the gunners begin reloading them, which of course gave the Covenant infantry time to advance. Despite the few obstacles in their way they still haven't made it to the 2nd wire obstacle or the anti-tank ditch. Mortar shells landed among the Covenant when they tried to mass for an attack, of course this scattered them. The Gauss turrets started adding their deadly firepower to the mix as well. Around 10 minutes into the 2nd assault, the Covenant started to retreat, but with all the dead bodies it was slow going and even more of the enemy troops were lost.

Captain "Jarhead" George ordered his men to stop firing. With a small break in the assault, water and ammo were brought out. The NCOs yelled at the soldiers who fired their weapons without the captain or one of his officer orders. There hadn't been any casualties in the first two assaults, and the Covenant haven't surrounded them yet. Two hours had past and still the Covenant hadn't attacked them yet so everyone was on edge.

"Sir, I'm seeing a white flag." A Lance corporal said looking through his binoculars.

"What did you say?" Captain George asked the man.

"There is a single Elite in a Specter waving a white flag." He replied.

"How the fuck do they know what a white flag is?" Private Caldwell asked. No one answered the private's question. Captain George told Sergeant Major Blackman to go out there and meet the elite. Two other soldiers accompany him in a Warthog as they waited for the Covenant party to show up in the Specter. A Sangheili General showed up and the two opposing soldiers moved towards each other.

"Where's your leader?" The Sangheili General asked.

"He's back at the outpost, he sent me in his place," Sergeant Major Blackman replied.

"Tell your commander that he has no chance of stopping us, as we are a legion strong, but if you surrender, we will allow you safe passage to any UNSC base you wish." The elite told him, but he didn't believe anything the Elite told him.

"I will take you offer to my commander." Blackman told the elite before they departed. Sergeant Major Blackman told Captain George the Elite terms. Captain George contacted the artillery pit.

"Load a smart shell and destroy their supplies." A smart shell was loaded into an artillery piece and on the captains orders, the gunners fired. The smart shell was being guided by Hera so it hit its target, destroy the covenants supplies.

The Elite General howled in rage and ordered his Wraiths and Revenants to open fire. The human artillery answer in kind. The tanks were destroyed since the UNSC had already figured the best spots for the enemy armor to bombard the base, so the general orders his tanks to retreat.

"These humans are quite resourceful," the Elite General said to one of his subordinates. "Send a squadron of Banshees, let's test their anti-air defense." The outpost saw them coming and the Anti-Air emplacements blow the Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft, commonly known as Banshees by the UNSC and other human forces, out of the sky. After seeing his air force failing to take out the defenses he decides to try another infantry assault. He turned to one of the Sangheili Ultras in his pavilion. "Tell the Jiralhanae Chieftain he can attack the eastern wall, and then you go take a force and attack the northern wall again."

The Brute Chieftain was informed and had his troop's line up in formation with Grunts, Jackals, Skirmishers, and Grammeons in front of his Brutes and Hunters. The Brutes in power armor were behind the Brutes without any power armor. The Grammeons are a pig-like creature, fat but as tall as a Skirmisher. They're one of the new species that joined the New Covenant Empire. They're even more expandable then Grunts.

The defenders on the eastern wall know that with a majority of the mines gone the enemy will have a much easier time reaching them, with only wire obstacles in their way. The covenant doesn't know about the ditch, which the UNSC hopes will slow them down. The 3rd assault began with a few Wraiths bombarding the outpost, but their bombardment didn't even last 10 seconds as they're destroyed by counter-battery fire from the UNSC artillery after their first salvo, some after their second. The Grunts, Jackals, Skirmishers, and Grammeons lost half of their number before reaching the wire. However they manage to clear several sections of it so the others following behind them could move on through before they're picked off by mortars, machine-guns, and small arms. The Grammeons 2nd wave charged forward encountering the same thing, however the machine-gunners were reloading. The defenders used their small-arms weapons, saving the rocket launchers and Spartan Lasers for later. The UNSC snipers continue to watch for enemy snipers, though some of the snipers fired on the leaders the attack. The Grammeons reached the wire just as the machine-guns were back in firing order and it turned into a bloodbath. However, the Grammeons continued their push forward before being stopped cold inches away from the ditch, which would have spoiled the surprise for the Brutes fixing to follow them. The surviving Grunts, Jackals, Skirmishers, and Grammeons pulling back encountered more losses as they retreated. As one, the Brutes push forward supported by four Prowlers and eight Choppers. The Jiralhanae lost many troops, but not enough. As the Jiralhanae hit the ditch and fall into it, some are impaled on spikes. The Brutes begin to huddle in the ditch/trench as more continue to pile into it. Some of course are killed as they enter the trench, but the UNSC soldiers can't fire on them so they think it is safe, until the UNSC artillery and mortars begin to shell the ditch. Chieftain Minors order their troops to push forward. Some of the chieftain minors are killed just as they're leaving the trench and others are killed from the mortar and artillery shells that were landing inside the ditch. The Brutes continued to push forward, despite their push the Brute Chieftain ordered his troops to fallback since he believed the Elites were using them for slaughter.

The assault on Northern wall wasn't fairing so good for the Covenant either. Unlike with the eastern wall, they use their marksman to keep the UNSC heads down until the UNSC snipers terminate them or forced them to fallback. Eventually they're forced to retreat too. Twelve UNSC soldiers were killed on the northern wall while five were killed on eastern wall. During that night the defenders continued to work to forty the outpost in preparation for the next day of enemy assaults. Several Falcons arrived and landed, spewing replacements and ammo. Four wounded soldiers are place onboard and head to Outpost 4. They're shocked to see that three of the replacements are Spartans.

 **Day three of the Battle for Outpost 5**

The Covenant hadn't attacked for five hours and many were wandering what the Covenant were up too. Some believe the enemy has retreated but the truth is far worse. During the hours of darkness the Covenant had surrounded the outpost. The Elite General heard the UNSC aircraft but doesn't know how they evaded his CAP, or Combat Air Patrol. He decided to attack the western and front walls. However the same thing happened and his forces were driven back twice. He decides not to attack for the rest of the day so he could find a better strategy to take out the human outpost. Captain George was surprises to discover they had only lost 6 men and another 3 were wounded but were patched up and rejoin their squads. UNSC soldiers were surprised to see the Covenant troops removing their dead and wounded from the battlefield and Captain George instructed his men to watch them. The Sangheili General wasn't too happy that he was losing so many troops trying to take the outpost. He looked through the human equivalent of binoculars and watched as the Falcons arrive and deliver supplies and bodies so he decided to construct anti-air emplacements to keep them from getting any support. Since the Covenant stopped their attacks, the Sergeant Major Blackman and the other NCOs had the men go and get some chow and bring their meal back to their post.

 **Day 4**

The Covenant begin their attack with a mortar attack and one plasma mortar got a lucky hit on the artillery pit, taking it out but not before another enemy tank was trashed. Captain George wasn't happy as without their artillery they couldn't hit the Wraith tanks unless they come within range. After three minutes of bombardment, the enemy infantry attack. One plasma mortar hit the battlements on northern wall, killing four soldiers. Ghosts, Choppers, Prowlers, Specters, Locust, and Revenants attacked the front supported by infantry. The UNSC soldiers opened fire with everything they have. The Wolf Spiders guarding the front gate also opened fire on the enemy. A rocket hit a Chopper, blowing it to pieces. Several soldiers tumbled off the wall. The Covenant attacking the front were getting slaughtered. On the eastern wall, the Brutes were climbing the ditch once again, determined to take the human trench. Eighteen soldiers on the eastern wall have already been taken out of the fight. Sergeant Major Blackman nailed a Brute who was fixing to throw a Spike Grenade with a headshot, the grenade landing in a mix match of Grunts and Jackals, killing them. Drones were sent in but are quickly dealt with, inflecting a few casualties but no fatalities. Twenty-one Brutes reach the wire in front of the eastern trench, but were slaughtered by the two MGs. A Scorpion fired and a dozen Covenant soldiers were blown into the ditch. Once again the Brutes begin falling back and so does the other enemy troops attacking the front. Sergeant Major Blackman noticed one of the lieutenants slumped over a sandbag so he grabbed the body and saw the spikes sticking out of the LTs chest. At that moment, the Wraith tanks opened fire. The defenders scattered trying to find cover. Three were killed during the bombardment. Sergeant Major Blackman picked up a Spartan Laser from a dead ODST and looked for an enemy tank to laser. After he found one he waited until the Spartan Laser is charged and destroyed the Wraith tank with one shot. He then told the tanks to open fire on the Wraiths. The tanks opened fire and Four Covenant tanks are destroyed in the first salvo. One Scorpion MBT is destroyed, but not before he took another enemy tank with him. The Elite General ordered another retreat. The Elite General began thinking of another strategy to beat the outpost defenses.

Unknown to the defenders at Outpost 5 the Brute Chieftain started a rebellion against the Elite commanders, killing the general and his high ranking officers. The chieftain and the other Brutes used human weapons and told the rest of the legion that Demons had killed the general and that they would pay. A Sangheili Ultra questioned the chieftain but the chieftain killed him with his gravity-hammer. The chieftain told them that they will attack the human base until they take it and cheers erupted from the Covenant troops. The chieftain called a meeting with his Brute Commanders and the Elites who held the ranks of captains and lieutenants. He gave them his plan of attack. However, a group of Phoenix pilots braved the Covenant Anti-Air emplacements and arrived at Outpost 5 and unload more reinforcements and ammo before the wounded are loaded onboard and they once again braved the emplacements and returned to Outpost 4. The replacements were shown to their positions.

 **Day 5**

Banshees came in low and fast, but Hera had control of the outposts Scythe M7 Anti-Aircraft guns which obliterated the first wave. The second wave was also beaten back. Then a mix match of Brutes, Elites, Grunts, Jackals, Drones, Grammeons, Skirmishers, and Hunters attacked Eastern wall. The north wall also comes under attack, but since the minefields had been cleared, the Covenant advanced quicker. Mortar bombs land within their ranks, but that still didn't stop them. The tanks fired on them, but once the enemy got into the ditch, the tanks couldn't fire on them. The enemy charged out of the ditch and some are shot back into the ditch. They passed through the second wire obstacle, and once they got through the enemy opened fire. Four UNSC soldiers were killed and another three were wounded and had to be taken off the line. Sergeant Major Blackman ordered the soldiers around him to duck down and wait for the enemy to reload. Mortars were still raining down on the enemy. The enemy troops attacking northern wall reached the bottom and the defenders could only fire on them if they expose themselves to enemy fire. Several soldiers came up the brilliant idea to drop grenades over the wall. The Covenant didn't see the grenades until it was too late and it blew many of them to pieces. That still didn't stop them as they brought ladders and ropes to scale the north wall.

Sergeant Major Blackman ordered the troopers defending the eastern wall to fall back to the second position. A Wraith plasma mortar hit one of the mortar pits killing several soldiers and severely wounded several others. Sergeant Major Blackman shot several Jiralhanae in the head as he was falling back; the other soldiers were also firing on the advancing enemy as they fell back. A marine threw a fragmentation grenade into the advancing covenant, killing eight Grunts, two Jackals, and a Brute from the explosion. The defenders reached the second defensive line. The tanks were still fighting and as they few back they ran over a few of the Covenant soldiers. The tanks machine gunners are firing nonstop. The Covenant managed to destroy one of the tanks, but not before it took out four Hunters, a Banshee, and dozens of enemy infantry. Lieutenant Tigh slid into the trench next to Sergeant Major Blackman, but didn't say anything. A mortar bomb landed above the trench the UNSC soldiers had just left a moment ago. The bomb killed several enemy soldiers. Lieutenant Tigh is fixing to move to another position to encourage his men, but was killed by a Jackal Marksmen. Private Frist Key nailed the Jackal sniper. PFC Laree Alford is hit in the chest by a Brute Shot grenade. A Scorpion fired, killing several more Covenant troops. A Hunter attempted to fire but a Scorpion blew the head off the Hunter's bond brother, who is then killed by the same tank. A UNSC army soldier fired a Spartan Laser at a Revenant, destroying it with one shot. One of the Spartans on the northern wall nailed an Elite sniper with his Battle Rifle. The tank machineguns are firing at any Covenant trying to exit from the trench that UNSC soldiers had occupied earlier. The tanks main cannons were also firing, destroying any Covenant vehicles that appeared. The Anti-Air emplacements were keeping the enemy Banshees at bay for now. The Wolverines fired a silo of missiles at a squadron of Banshees with a few Vampires, blowing them out of the sky. Lieutenant Trump grabbed a detonator and pressed the button, detonating the C-12 explosives in the trench the Covenant now occupy. The Brute Chieftain watching the battle roared in rage. A Banshee flies in but is immediately neutralized by one of the Scythes. Eighteen Brutes jump over the trench, which is now littered with bodies and body parts, but a mortar shell blows them into the trench. A Type-52 Infantry Support Vehicle, commonly known as a Prowler by the humans, pulled up and opened fire, but killed their own troops instead. A Grizzly destroyed the Prowler with its twin main cannons. Corporal Ralfalco fired his grenade launcher, which killed a Brute and four Grunts who were converging on a Scorpion. He was hit in the shoulder by a Covenant Carbine, a medic runs to him to take care of the wound since the ammunition from the Covenant Carbine is toxic. Lieutenant Trump moved through the second line trench trying to find Sergeant Major Blackman or any of the senior NCOs. He jumped out of the way just as a Scorpion rolled into the trench on fire. He found Sergeant Major Blackman firing on a group of Brutes.

"Sergeant Major, we need to get the two towers back online, and then we can take back the area the Covenant took from us." Even though he knows they want be able to and he believes the LT has lost his marbles, he knows not to question a direct order.

"Yes sir," he replied. He selected four troopers to go and get the towers back online, which the Covenant are using as a Sniper Nest. He aimed his DMR at one of the towers and shoots a Jackal sniper in the head. The four men move towards the towers. They had to use a few grenades to clear a path and rely on their own snipers to cover them, but only two out of the four made it to the towers. They let the snipers clear the towers before they take over the machine-guns. They killed a lot of the Covenant soldiers before a Revenant blew the towers to splinters, but a Grizzly avenged them.

"Hold this line," Lieutenant Trump said over the radio and over the sound of the gunfire, explosions, and troopers cursing. Three Warthogs pulled up and unleashed a hailstorm of lead, cutting down a lot of advancing enemy troops.

The Covenant are also attacking the other walls, but only a few at a time are getting onto the battlements and as soon as they do get onto the battlements they're eliminated. A Spartan comes up behind an Elite who's fixing to stab a soldier and killed the Elite with her combat knife. She drew her two SMGs and unleashed hot lead onto Grunts and Skirmishers who just arrived on the battlements. Captain George ordered his troops to abandon the walls. The defenders drop a few grenades on the other side of the walls to give the Covenant something to think about.

A Brute captain informed the chieftain. "The humans are abandoning the walls. We should press our attack." The Brute Chieftain doesn't agree with him so he ordered his forces to retreat. The Covenant troops begin retreating. The Scorpions and Grizzlies got off a few more rounds, inflecting some more casualties onto the Covenant legion and then Captain George looked around.

"We'll hold them at the command bunker. I don't know how long before they attack again or when they might bombard us so I want all the wounded taken into the basement of the command bunker. Grab as much ammo, medical supplies, and food as you can. I want explosives planted in the mortar pits, the motor pool, and on all vehicles." He told his soldiers and they go to work. They strip ammo from the dead and take Covenant weapons from the bodies of dead Covenant. Hera activated the Wolf Spiders in front of the command bunker. The command bunker is a 3 story building designed as the last defensive option for the outpost. It's located in the center of the outpost. UNSC soldiers' setup machine-guns and Gauss cannons on the 2nd and 3rd floor. They setup missile pods, two Gauss Turrets, and M79 Multiple Rocket Systems on the roof. They plant all the mines they had left around the building. Captain George knows he only has 37 soldiers able to fight, another 21 wounded, and that's not including the three Spartans and Hellbringer squad. All of sudden the bombardment begins. The Mass Driver and all but one of the Scythes are destroyed. The bombardment lasted for 30 minutes. The Brute Chieftain ordered his troops into the base. Upon entering they encounter no resistance. They're wandering if the bombardment killed all the humans, but the defenders are watching them from the bunker. All of sudden explosions erupt from the bobby-trap vehicles as some are on proximity detonation while others are on manual detonation. Some Covenant soldiers even step on the mines. A Chieftain Minor wielding plasma cannon stepped on a mine and is blow to pieces. Several Brutes head to the gatehouse to get the outpost gate open but as soon as they entered an explosion is heard and a Brute Ultra exits from the gatehouse and falls off the battlements. Captain George looks around and noticed two of the Spartans are missing. He looks at the other Spartan.

"They wanted to inflect as many casualties onto the enemy as possible," the Spartan replied. More Covenant troops head to the gatehouse. The doors are closed by that time. Just as a Brute and Elite on either side of the gatehouse are going to kick in the door an explosion comes outwards from the gatehouses doors. The explosion killed three Sangheili, four Brutes, nine Grunts, six Jackals, and four Skirmishers on one side. On the other side the explosion kills eight Brutes, twelve Grunts, and six Jackals. An Elite with his shields depleted attempted to stand back up, but got blasted in the face from a shotgun. A Grunt takes a blast to the chest next along with another Elite. Covenant reinforcements arrived and open fire on the Spartan. However it turns out to be a hologram. The Spartan laughed as he killed dozens of enemy soldiers. As he finished eliminating an Elite Major he was hit in the back by a Hunter's fuel rod cannon, depleting his shield, then he's hit by multiple Spikes from a Brutes Spiker and several Brutes move to open the gate. A Brute moved towards the Demon, despite the warnings coming from the Elites. The Brute draws his knife and stands over the Demon, the Brute didn't see him jab his own knife into the Brute's throat, sinking it all the way in until it's buried up to the hilt. The Spartan stood up and used the Brute's body as a shield. He threw a plasma grenade at the nearest Elite, taking him and two others with him. He pushes the Brute's body onto another Brute, knocking him down, and then finished him off with the Brutes own knife. A Sangheili Zealot turned to face him, but the Spartan tackled him and then stabbed him. Several other Elites stab him in the back and as he turns over he is stabbed in the front. He was holding a detonator in one of his hands. The Elites and the other Covenant soldiers in the gatehouse begin backing up. "Boom Mother Fuckers!" He yelled before pressing the detonator. The gatehouse and half of the wall are demolished and the Covenant near the blast begin recovering, however some were buried underneath the rubble.

Spartan Kuchma is pretending to be dead in one of the towers on northern wall when she heard the explosion. She's surrounded by mostly Grunts with two Brute Minors in the tower who are going through the bodies, shooting some of them. A Grunt comes over to her but she snaps the Grunt's neck. She then activated her active-camo and walked up behind one of the Brutes and snapped his neck. The two Grunts on either side of him have no clue what happened until two throwing knives entered their skulls. One by one she eliminates the Covenant soldiers in the tower. She exited from the tower and the Jackal outside had no clue she was there until she snapped his neck too. The Jackal next to the one she just killed turned but his actions are slow compared to hers and she quickly jabbed her combat knife into the creature's skull. She killed several more Covenant soldiers in a similar manner. She picks up an M29 Rocket Launcher and fired on the enemy vehicles within the outpost and one rocket into a cluster of enemy soldiers. A Brute sees her firing and comes up behind her, but he's killed by the back blast. The Covenant look up. Elites began moving up to the walls, supported by Brutes, Grunts, Jackals, and 2 pairs of Hunters. She has two rockets left and she used them on the 2 pairs of Hunters. Captain George has given the men in the bunker strict orders to save their ammo for when the enemy comes for them so they hold their fire. Spartan Kuchma's motion tracker picked up contacts behind her and she turned just in time to catch a plasma bolt to her chest. She returned fire with her Battle Rifle, dropping the Grunts with headshots. She sees Elites along with more Grunts behind them so she throws a satchel charge with C-12 explosive inside and waited for the first couple covenant to pass by it before she detonates the C-12 explosive with a single shot from her Battle Rifle. The four Covenant soldiers through the door are blown to pieces and the entrance is sealed. She turned her attention to the Covenant just arriving on the battlements. She threw a Spike Grenade but didn't wait to see the result as she begin aiming for their heads. Her shields begin dropping so she threw down a Bubble Shield. It's a new type that doesn't allow the attacker to enter or allow anything to harm the user, but it does allow the user to fire back at the attacker which is what Spartan Kuchma does. She fires her two primary weapons until they're out of ammo leaving only her pistol, two throwing knives, her K-BAR knife, and her Katana. She knows ten seconds left to go before the shield fails. The Elites ignited their energy swords, the Brutes draw their knives, and the Jackals ignited their energy-cutlass.

The shield deactivates and she runs towards her attackers. The Grunts open fire, hitting their own, which of course cause the Elites and Brutes to kill them. The Spartan swordsmanship is far superior then the Elite minor's swordsmanship. Her Katana cuts their arms, legs, and even heads off. It's a brutal melee. She uses a few plasma grenades and spike grenades to strip away the Brute with power armor away and the Elites' personal energy shields. She cut off an Elites hand and picked up his Energy Sword and killed him with his own energy sword. Several Plasma bolts hit her, dropping her shields but she continued to fight. An Elite swung at her head, narrowing missing her but she stabbed the Elite in the chest, killing him. She threw her Katana into the nearest Brute, impaling him. She just finished dispatching a Sangheili Ultra when a plasma bolt from a charged Plasma Pistol hit her. She turned around and advance towards the Grunts who begins backing up. However a Sangheili Zealot stabbed her in the back. She flipped around and stabbed him in the head. As the Zealot falls he removed the blade from her back. She collapses, but held herself up with the energy sword in the ground. She activated her active-camo and disappeared as several more Zealots came to finish her off. She removed her Katana from the dead Brute's body. Despite her wound, she's determined to kill as many Covenants as she could before she succumbed to her wounds. She came up behind an Elite Zealot and stabbed him in the back. She rushes towards another Elite and with the Katana sticking out stabbed the Elite through the chest. Now there are two impaled with the Katana. She's fixing to remove the Katana but a plasma bolt hit her in the back, disabling her active-camo. She's stabbed a few times by Jackals, but she shoots each of them in the head with her pistol then she uses the pistol as a club to kill another Jackal. She's hit several more times and her helmet cracks so she removes it and breaks an Elite's neck with her helmet. A Brute fired his Spiker at the Demon, finally killing her with a headshot. However as her final present to the Covenant, her suits self-destruct killed anyone within the blast radius. Another explosion erupts as a Prowler hits a mine outside of outpost.

The Brute Chieftain smiles when he's informed the two Demons are dead. The outpost has one final obstacle for his troops to overcome and after the last obstacle falls the humans will be dead for all the pain they cause him. A Sangheili Zealot approaches the chieftain. "What do you want major?" The Jiralhanae Chieftain asked the Sangheili.

"Five Litchs and four Phantoms are on approach." The Elite Major told him. "It's probably our new general." The Chieftain slams his hammer down onto the ground causing the Elite to flinch.

"Attack now," the Brute Chieftain orders. However just as soon as he gave the order a Jirheili appears. The Brute Chieftain looked at him, so does the others present, as he's accompanied by 12 Jirheili Bodyguards.

"Chieftain, why haven't you taken the human base yet?" The Jirheili asked.

"We have encountered heavy resistance from the humans, they're hold up in their last defensive structure and it won't be long now general," The Jiralhanae Chieftain replied.

"I do have some good news two Demons are dead," The Jiralhanae smiles. The Jirheili General didn't say anything as he left the tent.

The Covenant infantry begin heading towards the bunker. Captain George orders his men the order to unleash hell. "Save the Gauss turrets, rocket launchers and Spartan Lasers for bigger threats such as Hunters and Covenant vehicles." He told his men over the comms. "Hera, you have the Anti-aircraft batteries if they send in Banshees, Sprits and Phantoms blow them out of the sky." Many of the Covenant troops are being cut to pieces. Rockets hit the formations and the Wraiths. A single Spartan Laser shot destroyed a Wraith tank and even the second one behind it. A rocket misses its target but instead hits the base of the tower which causes debris to fall onto Grunts and Jackals, crushing them. Drones attack the bunker, but the machine-guns drive them away. Only the Covenant Marksman have clear targets at the UNSC soldiers but as soon as the Covenant fire their Beam Rifles, Carbine, Focus Rifle, and Needle Rifles the UNSC snipers begin hitting them in the head or the chest. The mortar pits explode, taking any Covenant soldier in the vicinity with it. Some survived but many are mortally wounded. A Wraith tank fired at the bunker but the plasma goes over and hits the battlements behind the bunker, inflecting causalities onto their own troops. The Wraith tank explodes shortly after it made it 2nd shot from several Hunters combine firepower. Captain George gets an idea after he watched the Hunters destroy one of their own vehicles. "Let's see if we can't get them to shoot each other." Sergeant Major Blackman nailed a Grunt with a headshot. They throw or fire smoke grenades into the Covenant ranks some of the grenades are high-explosive and others are incendiary to keep the enemy confuse. As the smoke begins to cloud the battlefield the UNSC soldiers switch to thermal optics. The Covenant have no idea what's happening so they fire blindly into the smoke, either hitting nothing or their own troops. The Jirheili General watched. He gave the order to retreat so the smoke could deteriorate before they attack again.

After the smoke is blown away by the wind the Covenant launch another assault against the bunker, this time with Banshees for support. Private First Class Key blows the head off a Minor Jiralhanae Chieftain shoulders plus four of his bodyguards and 8 Grunts. The Banshees attack the UNSC soldiers on the roof, forcing them off the roof and onto the 3rd floor, though two squadrons of Banshees are blown out of the sky in the process, but they managed to destroy the last Scythe. Phantoms and Sprits begin approaching the outpost. Two Phantoms hover above the roof and Covenant troops use the grav lift to get down there. A rocket hits one of the door gunners but the Covenant troops already on the roof smoke the UNSC soldiers. The enemy head towards the exit so additional troops can arrive. However they aren't expecting projectiles to meet them as soon as they enter the stairway. Covenant bodies tumble down the stairs another soldier shoots each of them again with his M90 Shotgun. The soldiers counter-attack and manage to clear the roof but after 3 tries 8 soldiers are killed in the process but they had help from the last Spartan. Over the next 3 days the Covenant try to take the bunker but they sustain heavy causalities in the process, but they manage to drop the defenders down to 19 fighters. The Covenant launched another assault and the UNSC know they can't hold the roof so they abandon the roof and the 3rd floor. As the Covenant enter the 3rd floor from the roof they hit multiple claymore mines. Captain George knows he won't be able to hold the outpost for much longer and they're running short of ammunition so they retreat down to the basement. Wraith tanks and Revenants and the few remain Locust begins bombarding the bunker which inflect causalities onto their own troops already in the bunkers three floors.

"Lieutenant Trump, I want you to take a majority of the men to Outpost 4 and tell them what happened and to expect a Covenant attack."

"Yes sir," Lieutenant Trump replied. "What are you going to do sir?"

"I'm going to remain behind with the wounded, hopefully the Covenant decide to take prisoners." Only the Spartan and two other men remain behind with the captain. Lieutenant Trump, Sergeant Major Blackman, Sergeant Ryan, Hellbringer Squad, and the others enter the escape tunnel. Once inside the tunnel they hear explosions and gunfire but they keep moving.

As soon as the escape tunnel seals the Covenant breeched the basement. Two automated turrets nail some of the Covenant through the breech but several more breeches appear and instead of Elites and Brutes a species never seen before entered along with Grunts, Jackals, and Grammeons. The marine nearest them open fire, cutting a few Grunts and a single Jackal down with his MA5D AR (Assault Rifle), but the new assailant shields absorb the round like it was hungry. The marine's AR is empty in a matter of seconds and still there are no indication of the AP (Armor-Piercing) rounds having any affect. The new assailant stabs the marine in the chest with his energy sword. The Spartan manages to kill one with an overcharged Plasma Pistol and a headshot from his DMR. Three wounded soldiers are killed as they attempted to defend themselves from a gang of Grammeons. The rest are surrounded by the new species with Grunts, Jackals, and Grammeons on the outside. They surrender to the new species. They're taken to a prison camp near New Mombasa. Hera has one last surprise for them. As soon as the Litch leaves with the UNSC prisoners the outpost explodes, taking anything within the vicinity with it; including Banshees, Phantoms, Sprits, and a Litch. The Covenant troops well outside of the blast radius are shocked, however the Jiralhanae Chieftain was enraged and he wanted payback, but the Jirheili General forbids him, stating that this is war and to accomplish a goal requires some sacrifice. He gives orders to construct an outpost of their own to protect New Mombasa from a UNSC counter-attack.

Lieutenant Trump and the others reach Outpost 4 three days later and informed the base commander of the destruction of Outpost 5 who then relays the news to HighCom.


	7. Chapter 7: Battle of Antartica Part 1

**Here's the next chapter in SCHW (Second Human-Covenant War) Hope you enjoy. Normal disclaimer applied. Author Note will be at the end.**

* * *

First Battle of Antarctica, Part 1

During the events of the Covenant attack on Spartan HQ the Covenant sent three perhaps four ships to secure Antarctica. One Covenant ship was blasted by a UNSC Maritime Destroyer. The remaining Covenant ships split up one headed towards the Falkland Islands while the other two move towards Antarctica. The UNSC Frigate was delivering supplies to Port Foster, which will be taken to the secret UNSC/ONI Base. The Covenant used plasma to destroy the UNSC Frigate, along with the port. Several squadrons of Seraph and Banshee fighters attacked a convoy of UNSC vehicles taking supplies to the base. The Marines fought valiantly but were outnumbered and outgunned. The Covenant obliterated the convoy. The Covenant decide to take a gamble and move close, but not too close, to the hidden UNSC base, which isn't hidden anymore, since a few Sangheili who were allied with the humans prior to Anubis assuming power knew where some of the bases were on Earth. They dispatched Phantoms and Sprits to begin digging down to the base. The Covenant also begin preparing for some sort of UNSC Counter-attack. Shipmaster Veo lost contact with the two ships which were going to destroy the Falkland Islands which he assumes were destroyed. However, 8 squadrons of Seraph Fighters from those two ships reported the UNSC presence on the island had been crippled despite two Covenant Battlecruisers being destroyed in the process. The base commander looked to Doctor Catherine Halsey for advice and she told him," Don't do anything yet, let them relax, it will take them hours maybe even days to drill down here and besides I'm sure Lord Hood will send help." The base commander agreed with her even though he wanted to blow those two Covenant ships to pieces, but that might reveal the locations of the hidden MAC Guns, then the Covenant may decide to use their Cleansing Beam to destroy the base and the secret project. The only thing keeping them from destroying the base was the Covenant believe the base has Forerunner relics and they're right. Doctor Halsey and a team of archeologist found a few relics in the ice.

 **Nine Hours later**

The Three Longsword transport fighters and five Pelicans that had escaped from Spartan HQ were heading towards the UNSC base in Antarctica. Longsword transport Fighters were similar to the traditional longswords except they also combined an Albatross with them. They had side turrets, and a top turret. "I hope the Covenant haven't found the base." Lord Hood said to the colonel. On their approach to the secret ONI base they took AAA fire from some Anti-Air Wraiths.

"Lucky for us they haven't set up anti-aircraft batteries such as the Tyrant." Commander Jenny's copilot said over the coms. Commander Jenny Hood fired the Longswords ASGM-10 missiles at two Wraith tanks and they blew up. However, they were hit by another Wraith she didn't see and they start to go down.

"Mayday, Mayday, we are hit and we're going down. Hold on, we're going in. Brace for impact!" Commander Jenny yells. They hit the ground hard, but remarkable the fighter remained relatively intact except for one of the wings was torn from the fighter.

"Colonel, are you alright?" Aprils said over his private com as the colonel got up.

"Ya I'm good." He replied to her.

"Was everyone else okay?" The colonel asked.

"We're all find." Lord Hood replied.

"My copilot has a broken arm." Jenny reported and so the medic moved to the front.

"April, where are the rest?" Heath asked.

"I'm fine too by the way." April said. "They landed four klicks away from our present location. However, we lost one Pelican from the anti-air fire," April replied over the com. "I'm picking up chatter over the Covenant Battle Net; Five hundred Covenant troops are on their way from a downed cruiser or a staging area."

"When you say we lost the Pelican, did we lose the Pelican or the crew?" Sergeant Jackson asked.

"Just the pelican," she answered. "The Marines bailed out of the Pelican before it was destroyed and they are on their way here."

"Excellent flying commander, you managed to crash this bird in one piece." Colonel Heath-118 told her.

"Thank you." she replied.

"Man those turrets!" Lord Hood ordered. Several marines, SGT Jackson, and Lieutenant Colonel Jason-120 maned the six turrets of the Longsword Transport fighter. Spartan-118 and Commander Jenny volunteered to go on a reconnaissance mission. Spartan-118 grabbed his MA5B assault rifle, four frag grenades, and a sniper rifle. Commander Jenny grabbed an MA5C assault rifle, a M6B pistol, and an SMG. They exited the ship and headed out. Jenny was wearing a UNSC Arctic uniform, like everyone aboard the ship except for the Spartans. They climbed a hill and saw a Covenant ship in the distance and some enemy troops heading directly for them. He opened his com to Kelly.

"Bring me a rocket launcher and bring yourself a sniper rifle." A few minutes passed by before Kelly arrived with the weapons that the colonel asked for. She laid down beside the colonel. He had 10 magazines for his SRS 99D-S2 AM sniper rifle lying next to him. Four Covenant Elites fell from his sniping and more followed. Kelly added her fire to the engagement while the commander watched their backs. Grunts and other Covenant species were being killed by both the colonel and Kelly's sniper skills even though their skills were not as good as Linda's or Jun's. Two Brutes also fall under the sniper fire. Commander Jenny was looking through her binoculars.

"Colonel, Wraith inbounds." Jenny told him.

"Shit, Chief where the hell are you," The colonel said over the com.

"Sir, we're on our way, ETA is 99 minutes." The chief replied over the com.

"Hurry up, we won't hold out for long." The colonel replied. Grunts and Jackals started to climb the hill. The colonel and Kelly were sniped many of them until they ran out of ammo and then they switched to their assault rifles. Commander Jenny had been killing the Grunts as they climbed the hill. They threw grenades down the hill, killing a lot of Grunts and Jackals and weakening the Elites shields, but bullets tore into the Elite weaken shields and they began to fall. They threw more grenades down the hill and into the enemy formations. The Jackals overlapped their shields, but the colonel and Kelly threw fragmentation grenades and a few plasma grenades towards them. Some of the Kig-Yar moved out of the way which cause causalities.

"Sweep the slopes!" The colonel ordered. They killed many Grunts as they were reaching the top. They rolled back down, knocking over their comrades. A Hunter appeared on the hill and fired its Fuel Rod Cannon at the commander, but the colonel knocked her to the ground. The blast from the Hunter's Fuel Rod cannon killed several Elites coming up from behind them. The Hunter fired again. The commander thought this was the end, but Spartan-118 stepped in front of the blast, shielding her from the attack. His shields were completely depleted, but he was fine; he grabbed the Rocket launcher and fired it at the Hunter.

"This was going to hurt." He said once he fired it. The rocket blew the Hunter's head cleaned off. The shockwave knocked the colonel down the hill, crushing several Grunts and Jackals. His head was pounding, but at least he was still alive; but he was surrounded by Covenant troops. His shields had just started to recharge. He had his MA5B assault rifle aimed at each of the Covenant foot soldiers in turn.

"Kill the Demon!" an Elite ordered. The Grunts and few Elites that had him surrounded fired their plasma weapons at him, but they bounced harmlessly off his shields. He brought out a plasma grenade.

"Bet you can't stick it." April said to him.

"You're on." he replied. He threw the plasma grenade at the nearest Elite. The Elite tried to remove it, but it wouldn't come off. When the plasma grenade exploded, it killed the Elite and weakened the other Elites shields that were standing to close to their comrade. He opened up with his assault rifle and took the rest down. His shields were drained pretty fast, but he kept up the fire. He brought his gun down onto a Grunt's head, smashing its skull. He threw a couple of frag grenades and they dealt with the surviving Elites and Grunts, but more took their place. Then the colonel's assault rifle clicked empty.

"Fuck!" he said. Two Elites came running at him with ignited Energy swords. However, he heard a crack and one of the Elite fell dead. As the other Elite was fixing to slash at the colonel, he grabbed the Elites wrist, twisting its arm back till it broke, then he brought his elbow down on the Elite's neck, breaking it and killing the elite. He ran back up the hill, Elites firing their plasma rifles at him. His shields took them, but they were almost depleted again. Kelly fired a Jackhammer into the mass of Elites, killing many of them, though some were only wounded and others had their shields depleted. Kelly fired the launcher a second time and quickly reloaded and fired a third time. This time the surviving Elites did not stand a chance. She fired the launcher's last round at another Hunter pair, but only one Hunter was killed, and even more Covenant appeared. It gave Heath enough time to reach the top and give his shields time to recharge fully. The other Hunter from the pair the colonel had killed earlier on the hill charged after him. Kelly picked up another launcher, but she only found one missile in the tube, which she fired and it detonated on target, killing the Hunter and making it fall down the hill, crushing several Grunts and Jackals along the way and causing the rest of the Covenant to retreat. They informed Lord Hood over their radio. Two marines arrived a bit later, one was carrying a Spartan Laser while the other had a M29 Rocket Launcher on his back, plus they're both carrying satchels with additional ammo. One marine had a Battle Rifle as his primary and the other has M739 Light Machine Gun, otherwise known as the SAW.

Wraiths opened fire, but they only hit the bottom of the hill. Heath took the Spartan Laser from the marine and aimed it at the Wraith tank. He waited as it charged up and the Wraith Tank was destroyed just as a second plasma mortar landed behind them. He targeted the 2nd tank and destroys it too. The third tank was also destroyed before the Spartan Laser was out of juice. Three more Wraith tanks fire but all fell short since they pulled back some to avoid what had happen to the other 3 tanks.

"Let's get back to the ship before their aim improves." Spartan-118 suggested.

"Good idea," the commander replied. "Before the Covenant get in a lucky shot and finish us." Kelly and Jenny headed back to the ship, but before the colonel left he fired the last missile at a group of Covenant heading their way, then he joined Kelly and Jenny and they all ran back to the ship. They saw three chain-guns being set up by a team of ODSTs. Some marines were laying down claymore mines as well as Lotus anti-tank mines, they were even digging firing pits.

"How many Covenant did you see colonel?" Lord Hood asked him.

"To many." he replied.

"I need numbers colonel." Lord Hood replied.

"Tens of thousands, maybe more." the colonel replied. Suddenly three Banshees appeared, but the SAM launchers the UNSC marines positioned earlier blew the enemy aircraft out of the sky.

"Soldier, will those launchers work against Seraph Fighters?" Lord Hood asked the marine engineer.

"Well sir, it'll take multiple hits to take out their shields then more to destroy the fighter so no sir, they won't." the marine engineer replied.

"How many missiles do those launchers hold?"

"Twenty-five lock on missiles."

"Well then, let's Lock and Load." Lord Hood ordered. The marines pulled back the charging lever on the gun turrets inside the ship, chambering a round.

"Remember, when they attack use short controlled bursts." Jason told them over the coms. Blue lights wink from the Spartans and the other UNSC soldiers gave thumbs up.

"Do they have any vehicles?"

"Yes sir." the colonel replied.

"Covenant inbound!" A marine yelled. All of a sudden a lot of Covenant appeared on the ridge, a mixture of Grunts, Jackals, Brutes, Drones, six pairs of Hunters, Elites. The Grunts and Jackals charge at the wreaked ship. A hundred Elite Minors joined the Grunts in the near disaster of a charge, along with a hundred Brutes and a few dozen Drones. The automatic chain-guns started to fire on the Covenant. Grunts were being mowed down just as a lawnmower mows down grass. The Elites were also being killed by the automatic chain-guns. The chain-guns killed a lot of them, but they kept coming. They fired until they ran out of ammunition, then the ships turrets opened up on the Grunts, Jackals, and Elites that were charging towards the ship. Grunts, Jackals, Drones, Brutes, and Elites fell to the 50mm armor piercing bullets that the turrets were firing. The marines in the firing pits also fired on the advancing Covenant. The Covenant troops the Elite commander had sent to kill the humans were being slaughtered. One of the ships turrets fired missiles. The missiles were blowing the Covenant to pieces and two Hunters meet a similar fate when the missiles hit them.

"Colonel, I'm picking up multiple wraiths heading our way," April told him. "They're firing their plasma motors."

"Everyone hit the deck!" The colonel ordered everyone in the ship. The colonel tackled Commander Jenny, knocking her to the ground, again. A plasma motor from the Wraith tanks impacted on the ship's hull. At first the ship's hull and armor held, but then a plasma mortar blew a huge hole in the ship and an ODST was killed by the blast.

"Colonel, are you okay?" April asked him over his private com. He shook his head. Two Hunters then entered the ship through the breech and His shields were only at half charge. The Arbiter and two friendly Elites had just started to regain conscious. He saw a Jackhammer missile launcher lying next to him so he picked it up and fired one of the missiles at the first Hunter he saw. The first missile hit the first Hunter in the midsection, blowing him in two. He guessed that most of the marines in the Longsword ears were ringing. The other Hunter roared in anger when he saw his bond brother die. The Hunter turns around to face the colonel, but he took a missile to the back and fell to the ground. The colonel saw Kelly still holding the smoking Jackhammer and gave her a thumbs up. Grunts and Jackals started to come through the opening. The ODSTs and marines fired their assault rifles at them and many of them fell dead and rolled out the ship. One marine took a plasma bolt to the face and he fell down, dead. An Elite Spec-Ops enters the ship with an ignited energy sword and stabbed an ODST through the gut. Another marine fired at the Elite, but was knocked aside by another Elite wearing silver armor.

"Demon you are mine!" He yelled and came at Kelly, but she was too quick for the Elite and she killed the Elite with several burst from her assault rifle. The Arbiter goes up to another Elite.

"Brother the prophet was lying to you. The Great Journey does not exist. Do you not remember what the Prophet of Truth did to us?" the Arbiter told him.

"Heretic you shall die!" the Elite Major replied and they began to sword fight. While they were fighting, the Spartans and the marines were dispatching the Grunts and Jackals that had entered the ship. A marine took a plasma bolt to the face. A friendly Elite was knock down by a Brute and was then killed by the Brute's bayonet underneath his Brute Shot before another friendly Sangheili killed him. Another marine took a plasma bolt to the arm and he howled in pain. Lucy came up to the marine and put some bio-foam onto the wound, and then she bandaged the arm up. The marine picked up his BR55 Battle Rifle and started to fight back. Jenny and Spartan-118 were fighting side by side. An Elite Major enters the ship and he swings his energy sword at Spartan-118's head, but he dodges the blade and fired his assault rifle as he fell. The Sangheili shields flickered then fell; the rounds tore into his armor and flesh killing him. The Arbiter killed the Elite he was fighting and then two more.

"Spartans, get out there and welcome our guests! We'll cover you with the turrets." Lord Hood told them.

"Sir Yes sir!" the Spartans replied. They went outside and could only see two dead marines, but plenty of dead Covenants, with some of the bodies were shielding the firing pits from return fire. An Elite and an ODST were fighting in one of the firing pits. The ODST's helmet was off and he had a black eye along with a cut on the side of his face. The colonel knew that a regular human wouldn't last long against a Brute or an Elite in hand-to hand fighting unless you got really lucky, so the colonel shot the Elite in the back. The marine pushed the elite off of him and He turned to the colonel.

"I could have taken him," the marine said with a smile on his face, "But thanks." Spartan-118 just finished crushing a Grunt's skull in with his assault rifle. However, more Covenants were on the ridge looking at the Spartans and the Arbiter. One hundred Ghosts started to come down the ridge. The surviving marines outside of the ship loaded their weapons and the .50 caliber machine gun inside of one of the firing pits and several marines had M19's. Wraith tanks opened fire on them and the Spartans and the Arbiter dodged the motor fire. Suddenly the Wraith stopped firing, luckily no one was killed in the bombardment. Kelly had a Spartan Laser on her shoulder, which she fired, destroying the Wraith tank with one shot. She destroyed two more in the same fashion but the Ghosts was still heading their way.

"Jackhammers, launcher now!" the colonel ordered. They fired their Jackhammer missile launchers at the Ghosts, except for the Arbiter who fired a Fuel Rod Cannon at the attacking Ghosts, many of which where piloted by Grunts. Many Ghosts were destroyed by the launchers, while others were destroyed by running into each other. Once the launchers were emptied they switch to their assault weapons. A Ghosts came straight at Jason who just finishing two Ghosts off with a Spartan Laser, but he discarded the laser since it was out. The Grunt piloting the Ghosts didn't expect the Demon to board his Ghosts and knock him off, and then ram him with his own Ghosts. Jason fired the Ghosts Twin plasma cannon at another Ghosts, then he saw the Golden Elite and he told the colonel who's leading the attack.

"Can you get to him?" Heath asked.

"No sir, there are too many Ghosts out there, I think I'm safer staying within the range of those gun turrets." The Golden Armor Elite piloted his Ghosts foreword to score a kill on the Demons and the Heretic and the rest of the Ghosts pilots followed him.

"Kill the Golden Elite!" somebody yelled out and they concentrated their fire on the Golden Elite, but the pilots recognizing that their commander was being targeted ran into the missiles to protect their commander. The colonel had to admire their commitment to their leader just like he does to his comrades. The rest of the Ghosts were still being fired on by the ships turrets. The colonel grabbed a sniper rifle from a wounded ODST that had came out to help them. He cradled it in his arm like a baby, a bad position to fire from, but one he must do to save lives. Thankfully the gun pits the marines dug managed to protect them, but it would be only a matter of time before the marines and the gun turrets would be out of ammo. He aimed through the scope and saw the Golden Elite and he pulled the trigger. The round went through the Elites skull, and the Elite's head went back and the body toppled out of the Ghost. The leadership of the Ghosts then fell to lower rank Elites and they panicked and ordered a retreat.

An Elite in silver armor tuned to a Brute Chieftain. "Send in the Choppers to crush the Demons into the snow." Brutes board their Choppers and headed straight for the downed human ship. They started to cross the Ice Field when a miracle happened, the ice began to brake and the Brutes, plus their Choppers, fell into the freezing cold water. The Elite in silver armor was angry at what happened and so was the Brute Chieftain. The Wraith on top of the ridge was fixing to fire again, but suddenly blew up. Two Pelicans appeared through the smoke, but the Pelicans were soon shot down by six Banshees that were right behind them. A marine in the transport ship used one of the anti-aircraft guns to destroy some of the Banshees on their next pass over the downed transport. Even the automated SAM turrets fired on the enemy aircraft. The colonel saw troops jumping out of the back of the Pelicans. They landed right next to the Longsword and joined with the Spartans. Colonel Heath-118 counted twenty-four troopers armed with a variety of weapons.

"Marines, were did you come from?" April asked over the com.

"The Hive ma'am," the soldiers answered. "Ma'am we're not UNSC marines we're UNSC Army." They ready their assault rifles. The Silver armor Elite had been asked why he wasn't sending in any of their aircraft to destroy the humans and the rebel Elites working with the humans. He showed them why when the Banshees were destroyed. The Elite then ordered his troops to advance. One hundred Elites, Brutes, Jackals, eight pairs of Hunters and two hundred Grunts charged down the ridge.

"They must have a ship nearby." Commander Jenny said over the com. Jenny came out of the ship and a Grunt was on top of the ship, He tried to jump on her but she shot him in mid-air.

"Negative ma'am, they have a staging area." April replied.

"Ma'am, you might want to get back into the ship and man those turrets we got more company coming." the colonel told her. She looked through her binoculars and saw the additional Covenant Forces heading right towards them. She went back into the ship were she'll be a lot safer.

"Chief, where the hell are you!" the colonel said to himself. He knows that it was only a matter of time before they run out of ammo completely. Some of the UNSC forces were using Covenant weaponry to save on ammo. The turrets opened fire on the enemy coming down the ridge. The Covenant were attacking from all sides of the ship. Marines with the MGL-140 grenade launcher fired into the ranks of the advancing Covenant. Once they were out of ammo they switched to their secondary weapons. A marine fired his assault rifle at several Grunts killing them all, but then Elite showed up and the young marine emptied his assault rifle into the Elite. The Elite fired his plasma rifle at the marine, hitting him in the face; the marine was dead before he even hit the ground. Another marine threw a plasma grenade, which stuck to Red armored Elite in the face, and engulfed him in a ball of fire and it also killed several Grunts and Jackals that were too close to their commander. A UNSC Army soldier with a DMR was getting multiple head shots until a Brute knocked him on the ground and started to beat him with his fist. The soldier pulled out his knife and stabbed it into the Brute's head, and then he removed his pistol from its hostler and fired it directly into the Brute's head. The Brute looks at him and then fell on top of him. It took him a few minutes to get out from underneath the dead Brutes body. He then removed his knife from the dead Brute, kicked the corpse and spat on it. One of his friends came up to him.

"Are you okay?" his friend asked him.

"Yeah, but that Brute isn't." he replied and they both laughed. They killed several Grunts and even two Brutes without power armor. A Grunt was charging his plasma pistol until Kelly put a round threw the Grunt's head, the glowing green orb smashed into the snow. She shot several more Grunts that tried to rush her. A couple of Elites were sniping; so Kelly aims her BR55 Battle Rifle at their heads and squeezed the trigger. All six of the Elites fell down the hill after she emptied the entire clip into them and she reloaded. A Brute went berserk and came charging at her, but she sidestepped and fired her battle rifle into the Brute's exposed back, the bullets tore into the creatures' spinal cord. Then she finished the Brute off with a headshot. The colonel had killed many Grunts, Elites, Jackals, and a few Drones as well with his assault rifle. He had just finished dispatching an Elite who refuse to die until the colonel shot the Elite in the head with his pistol. A Brute came at him, but the Brute didn't get far because the Longsword machine gun tore into the Brute's flesh, killing him inches away for the colonel. Another Brute came up from behind the colonel and pinned him down.

Spartan-118 brought his knees up to his pelvis and pushed the Brute off him with all his strength. Then he picked up his MA5B assault rifle and unleashed a hail of gunfire into the massive Brute's gut. He emptied the entire clip into it. The Brute fell to the ground and started to rise again, but the colonel brought his sidearm out and shot the Brute in the head. A Grunt threw a plasma grenade and it stuck to an ODST, the jarhead was blown to pieces and his body parts went everywhere. The colonel fired his last round in his assault rifle at a group of Grunts that were charging straight at him. The ammo counter on his MA5B read 00; so he picked up an M90 shotgun from a dead marine. He shot several Grunts in the head. An Elite jumped towards him with an ignited energy sword and he shot it twice. The first shot depleted the Elites energy shield and the second shot deliver the killing blow. Four more Elites in different colors except, Blue armor, came at the colonel with ignited energy swords. He ignited his own energy sword and fought all four of them.

"This was Sierra-117, does anyone read me, over."

"Master Chief." the colonel replied.

"Yes sir." he answers.

"Where are you?"

"Heading to your position, ETA is 2 minutes." the chief replied.

"Hurry up chief, this real-estate is getting to hard to hold." An Elite Major was chocking a UNSC Army soldier; the colonel came up behind the Elite and hit him from behind, killing the Covenant Elite instantly. A Brute stabbed a marine in the gut with the bayonet beneath his Brute Shot. The Arbiter killed several Brutes with his energy sword. Commander Jenny killed a lot of Grunts that had attacked her with her two SMGs. She threw a frag grenade behind a group of Jackals and it sprayed the snow with purple blood, and the grenade also weakened several Elites shields. Twenty-two Grunts led by two Elites entered the downed Longsword. Gunfire erupted from inside of the ship; two Grunts were blown back out by frag grenades. The colonel went over to the ship. An ODST came running out of the ship, but was shot by an Elite. The Spartan pulls the pins off of two grenades and yelled out "Fire in the hole!" before he threw the grenades into the ship. He was rewarded by Covenant screams as several Grunts ran out of the ship and he shot them all in the head with his pistol. He entered the ship and shot an Elite that tried to get up with the M90 shotgun. Five Helljumpers and two regular marines along with Lord Hood got up from behind cover.

"Well done colonel." Lord Hood told him. The colonel gives him a nod. Lord Hood suddenly aimed his pistol at the colonel and fired. The slug past went the left side of the colonel's helmet and hit an Elite in the neck causing his head to flip back. The Elite tried to rise, but Lord Hood put two more rounds into the Elite's chest. A Grunt was fixing to jump onto Lord Hood's back with an ignited plasma grenade, but the colonel shot him out of midair and push Lord Hood to safety.

"Sir, we got more Hunters!" A marine yelled. Spartan-118 picked up another assault rifle from a dead Helljumper's corpse and slung the shotgun over his shoulder.

"Do we have any Jackhammer missile launchers left?" The colonel asked.

"No sir." marine answers.

"What are you going to do now?" April asked him.

"I'm going to deal with those Hunters." the colonel replied.

"Without a Jackhammer?" she asked.

"You should know better to ask that." he answers.

"You're crazy." she told him.

"So stay here with the others." he answers.

"Fortuning for us both I like crazy." she told him.

"You know that you and Cortana have almost the same personality, but that explains a lot because you are her sister." A Hunter turned to face the colonel, leaving the Hunter's back exposed to several marines. The Hunter's bond brother didn't even know his bond brother was dead until the Demon showed up with a Fuel Rod cannon that a friendly Elite working with the humans gave to him. He fired the Fuel Rod cannon before the other Hunter could even turn to face the Spartan. Two more Hunters arrived to destroy the Demons. Jenny threw a plasma grenade at a Brute and it stuck to the Brute's head and killed him, along with several Jackals and wounded several Grunts. She finished the wounded Grunts that were crawling away with her pistol. A Grunt shot her twice, one in the Achilles heel and another in the shoulder, she screamed out in pain as both plasma bolts hit her. She spun around and shot the Grunt dead in the face despite the pain. A marine medic ran up to her and sprayed some bio foam on it and then bandaged it up. Two more Grunts appeared, one Grunt shot the marine medic in the back with its Needler. The medic fell to the ground coughing up blood and then died. She shot the two Grunts in the head. The colonel saw her on the ground. He rushes to help her because an Elite was fixing to finish her off. He shot the Elite with four bullets from his pistol. The bullets tore through his shields and punctured his brain, the Elite was dead before he even fell into the snow. Two Hunters came at her and aimed their Fuel Rod cannons at her and fired, but the colonel stepped in front of the blast. His shields were drained and he was blown backwards. His shield alarmed started to go off and then they started to slowly recharge. The Hunters fired again and he was blown to the ground and his shields were completely drained and he was fading fast. He heard the crack of a sniper rifle and he saw both Hunters fall down dead and then he fell unconscious

* * *

 **Author Note: thank Theairzona for beta-reading. i hope you have enjoying reading this story please review, favorite, and follow. thank you for your support.**


	8. Chapter 8: Battle of Antartica Part 2

**Disclaimer; Normal disclaimer applies**

 **Author Note: I hope you have enjoyed this story so far. I like to think Thearizona for beta-reading the story and all those who are following the story, favorite the story and review the story. Please read, follow, and favorite and follow this story if you like it.**

The First Battle of Antarctica Part 2

Heath woke up in the Longsword Transport Fighter several hours later. "Finally your awake, I thought I lost you Heath," April told him.

"What happen?" The colonel asked.

"Your shields started to recharge, but when they hit you again they completely depleted and fried the shield generator. I'm sorry colonel, but you no longer have any shields. Once you passed out the chief arrived with vehicles and they beat the Covenant assault back, for now. The Covenant sent in Spec Op Elites but UNSC forces killed them too. You're very lucky that your suit could take a lot of punishment without the shields or you would be a dead man."

"How many are left that survived the crash?"

"Three Helljumpers, six regular marines, thirteen UNSC Army soldiers, Lord Hood, Kelly, Commander Jenny, every Spartan that came with us, Admiral Grayson, and the Arbiter all survived." she answered.

"How many arrived with the chief?"

"Twenty-one ODSTs, twenty regular marines, four friendly Elites, and the other Spartans arrived with the chief."

"How many vehicles did they bring?"

"Four Warthogs, 3 Scorpions MBT, four mongoose, 2 Hornet, and three Pelicans." April replied.

"How is the commander?" the colonel asked.

"She'll need surgery, but she'll live." He got up as they start to pack everything up. The colonel got into a Scorpion, the commander got into the passenger seat of a Warthog, the chief took the wheel and Linda took the gun. Fred took the wheel of another warthog, and two other Spartans got into the same Warthog. The rest got into vehicles as while. Spartan-119 took a Mongoose and a marine with a Jackhammer rocket launcher got behind him. They found a dozen Ghost and two Choppers undamaged in the battle, so some got onto those. Lord Hood, with a dozen ODSTs, Spartan-120, and Spartan-087 boarded the only Longsword that was not damage. The Pelicans were filled with squads of ODSTs or marines. Another Spartan took the other Scorpion. Now that everyone is in a vehicle they headed to the secret UNSC base.

They noticed a Covenant cruiser right above the hidden base and also see a downed Covenant cruiser not far from the base with Covenant troops heading right for the base in Ghosts, Banshees, Prowlers, and Choppers. They see millions of Covenant troops on the ground with all kinds of vehicles. Covenant Engineers are busy setting up digging equipment right above the base.

"How do we get through that?" A marine asked over the com.

"We kill them all trooper." the colonel replied. Another Covenant ship was on approach to the base. They noticed two hundred Seraph fighters patrolling the ships and three hundred Banshees were also in the air.

"What do we do now sir?" Spartan-118 asked Lord Hood over the com.

"We do what you said, Kill 'em all." Lord Hood answered before accelerating the Longsword towards the enemy. The Pelicans and the two Hornets followed after him. In the jump seats were two Spartan-III's with the new M716 rocket launcher that holds 6 rockets. The M716 is effective against infantry, vehicles, Banshees, and even Seraph fighters. The rest followed after the aircraft. Banshees, Seraph fighters, Ghost, Choppers, and Wraiths all turned and headed right for them. The Wraith tanks fired their motors and three Mongooses and a captured Ghost were destroyed. The colonel fired the Scorpion's main gun. The 90mm shells from the tank's cannon destroyed one of the Wraiths. The colonel fired six more times and three more Wraith tanks were destroyed. He also destroyed several enemy Choppers. The Pelicans, Hornets, and the only Longsword were dealing with the enemy fighters. At the back of the Pelicans is a chain-gun, and the ODST manning the chain-gun pulled the bolt back and started spraying the enemy Banshees and Seraph fighters with lead. The marines on the Scorpion Main Battle Tank fired the Jackhammer missile launchers at the Banshees, and the Choppers that were coming right at them. A Banshee fired its plasma cannons at a Scorpion, wounding the machine gunner and killing a marine on one of the jump seats. A Jackhammer missile hits the Banshee, causing it to spin out of control and crash into another Banshee and they explode in a cloud of dust. The colonel fired the main gun again and again. The rounds were dead on target with anything he fire at. He rolled over many Grunts that ran in disarray and anything that did not get out of the way of the tank. A Brute tried to hijack the Scorpion, but a marine fired a Jackhammer at the guerrilla-like Covenant soldier and blew him to pieces. The Warthog ran over many Jackals, Grunts, and Elites while Linda fired the LAAG and the commander fired her assault rifle. Linda destroys several Banshees. Commander Jenny shoot a lot of Grunts, Jackals, and Brutes in the back as they ran from the Warthog. A Brute tries to stop the Warthog, but when the chief hit him with the Warthog he went flying backwards; he was dead before he even hit the ground.

A Wraith fired its mortar at the colonel's tank, the plasma missing his tank by inches, and the colonel destroyed the Wraith, however a marine was killed form the Wraith mortar. Another marine is killed by plasma from a Ghost, and the Ghost is destroyed by a Hornet. The Longsword destroyed the remaining Wraiths. The Hornets shoot down several more Banshees and a Seraph fighter, but is finally taken out by two Seraph fighters from behind. The two Spartan-III's jumped out before the Hornet was blown to bits. They land in the snow, and a Warthog comes up to them and they get into the passenger seat and on the gun. The Covenant cruiser fired its plasma turrets at the vehicles, but they UNSC vehicles were too fast, so most missed, but it did managed to destroy the second Scorpion and killed the Spartan-IV who was driving it. They then fired the plasma turrets at the chief's Warthog which was in the mist of Covenant troops. The chief pressed the accelerator and ran over several Elites, causing the plasma to miss them by inches. The shipmaster told them to stop firing and instead to send more troops down the gravity lift. Banshees swoop in to try and score a kill on the Master Chief's Warthog, but Linda fired the Warthog's LAAG and destroyed any Banshees that tried to score a kill. Many of the Elites and Brutes piloting the craft fall out and were dead before they hit the snow and ice. A wounded Elite is shot out of his Banshee and he lands into the water, he froze to death before a Phantom could pick him up. The Pelicans fired on all the Phantoms and they went up in a huge white-blue blast. A Pelican is shot down by an anti-air Wraith that just came out of the grav lift. The Spartans and a few UNSC soldiers survived the crash.

"Spartans get to the base, that's an order!" Lord Hood ordered. The Spartans and the UNSC soldiers that survived the crash ran towards the base. Covenant Ghosts headed straight for them, but the Spartans jumped onto the back of them and knocked the Elites pilots off and then finished them with plasma fire. They then allowed the UNSC soldiers to get on and they head for the base. The surviving Pelicans and Hornets, along with the only surviving Longsword entered the base. The rest followed, but they had Covenant right on their heels. Two hundred Ghost and Choppers ran into the door that had just finished closing behind the last UNSC vehicle. The Covenant vehicles all exploded, killing the pilots. Another door sealed behind the first, and another behind the second.

Onboard the Covenant Cruiser, Hand of the Gods, shipmaster Veo watched as his ground forces that he sent down to engage the Demons were obliterated. He turned to his second lieutenant, "I want none of them lift alive when we gain access to the human base."

The Elite major clenched his fist to his chest, "It shall be done." he answered. Ten thousand Covenant troops left the Hand of the Gods to kill the humans. Grunts and Jackals are busy working with the drill equipment. Several UNSC soldiers that were wounded in the battle and didn't make it inside were being executed by Elites. Brutes and other Covenant forces were waiting to enter the human base to kill or be killed.

Once in the base they get out of the vehicles and were surrounded by hundreds of marines in white or Arctic uniforms. As soon as they saw Lord Hood and the Spartans they lower their weapons.

"Where's your control room trooper?" Lord Hood asked one of the marines.

"Follow us sir." The marine answered. They followed them to the control room and along the way the encountered more UNSC marines and about two dozen UNSC Army and a few civilian engineers. Once inside of the control room they saw Dr. Halsey and Chief Mendez there, along with several Spartan-IVs that were assigned to the base.

"John, how are you?" Dr. Halsey asked.

"I'm good ma'am." he answered.

"Heath." she says.

"Doctor." he replied.

"Fred."

"Doctor."

"Kelly."

"Doctor." she replied.

"Linda."

"Doctor."

"Jason."

"Doctor." She did this with all the Spartans. Doctor Halsey never called them by their numbers or their ranks, she has always used their names when she address them. Master Chief John-117 and Colonel Heath-118 shook Chief Mendez's hand.

"How are you Heath?" Dr. Halsey asked once she finished with the others.

"I'm good ma'am," he answered, based off how his armor looked she scanned him.

"You have no shields, and among several other things you should be in a coma Heath."

"I'm fine ma'am." Heath replied.

"Ma'am, another Covenant Cruiser is right above the base, and two more ships are on their way." a marine told Dr. Halsey.

"Arm the MAC gun and fire at will." she ordered. The advanced, and very well hidden, MAC gun open up and fired three rounds at the Covenant Cruiser, but they only impacted on the ships shields. "Fire another three rounds."

"Yes ma'am." the marine replied. They fire again, this time the three rounds from the MAC gun went through and ripped the Covenant Cruiser in two.

"The MAC is fully charged." a marine report.

"Aim at the two approaching Covenant ships." Lord Hood ordered. The MAC gun then fired at the Covenant Destroyer heading right towards the Arctic base.

On board the Covenant Cruiser shipmaster Veo watched as the ships under his command were being ripped apart by the unseen human weapon. "Where is that weapon?" Shipmaster Veo asked one of his crew members on the bridge.

"We don't know," an Elite replied, "SpecOps teams are moving to a secret entrance that we got from a captured human before he was executed."

"Excellent, tell them to take that human weapon offline." Veo ordered.

"Yes shipmaster." the Elite replied.

"Sir we're receiving a transmission from Ultimate Shipmaster Bani Sadr," another Elite said before the Ultimate Shipmaster appeared on screen.

"I hear you have problems Shipmaster Veo." Bani Sadr said.

"None that I can't handle Holy One," Veo replied.

"Very well, continue your work," he replied before the transmission ended.

"How long until we enter the base?" Veo asked.

"We're almost there now, except for the SpecOps teams they're ready to enter on your command," A Golden Armored Elite told him.

"Tell them to proceed, but with extreme caution," Veo replied. "Especially with those Demons present."

Inside of the control room the marines at computers were monitoring the MAC guns accuracy and kills. Several other marines were watching security cameras. "Sir, we have hostiles trying to cut their way through the vehicle bay that you entered from," a marine told Lord Hood.

"Arm the auto-turrets, get them away from those doors." Lord Hood ordered.

"Auto-turrets armed sir," a marine answered. The auto-turrets opened up on the Covenant outside the vehicle bay and it was a massacred. The bullets tore through the Covenant troops like a hot knife through warm butter. Brutes were no match for the powerful auto-turrets, even two Hunters fell to the auto-turrets.

A Black Armored Elite lead the two teams of SpecOps commando units, mostly Elites, supported by a few Grunts. The Covenant Spec Ops wear active camouflage units to protect themselves from not being spotted. They entered the base through the secret access point and came upon two Helljumpers who were patrolling the hallway just outside of the entrance. The Elites sent the Grunts first. One of the Helljumpers was shot in the back by a Grunt's plasma pistol at full charge. The other Helljumper wheeled around when he heard his buddy screamed and shot the two Grunts in the head. "Command we have Covenant in the," an Elite shot him in the face before he could say anymore.

"This is command come in," command says over the com. The Elite fired his plasma rifle and the ODSTs' com went silent.

"Let's head for their generators and shut them off, then we can neutralize the gun that has been destroying our ships," the Elite in charge said. They head to the generators; the engineers in the generator room were not armed. The Covenant SpecOps teams burst in and killed all the engineers before they even knew they were there. They disabled the generators and the lights went out all over the base. Another team of commando Elites headed for the control center; Brute Stalkers were also with them.

"This is command come in," a marine said over the com.

"A problem soldier?" Admiral Grayson asked.

"Well sir, I received a brief transmission over the com and then it stopped. When I replied to it, there was no answer," the marine replied.

"Alert all security teams that we have intruders in the base," Admiral Grayson replied.

"We must get to Alamo 1, this base has been compromised," Lord Hood told them. "Doctor Halsey, how long before the Covenant drill down and are able to enter the base from above?"

"10 minutes," she replied.

"Marine is there a hanger bay here?" The marine didn't have time to answer before Dr. Halsey answered.

"Yes, there is a hanger bay and a new UNSC Destroyer is fully equipped and ready for battle," she answered. All of sudden the lights went out.

"What the hell," a marine says.

"Backup generators?" Lord Hood asked.

"They're down and charging," a marine answered.

"The Covenant must have turned off the lights," another marine said.

"No, you think," another marine replied to his comment.

"Helljumpers fan out, check the doors," Lord Hood ordered.

"Sir, yes sir," they replied. As one Helljumper is heading to an exit a plasma bolt hit him directly in the face. More plasma bolt stated to come through all three exits, another marine is killed from plasma and he falls back over the rails. A marine is hit by a spike in his shoulder, a marine medic came up to him and started to remove the spike. A Helljumper sergeant comes over to the wounded marine.

"Can you do your job?" the sergeant asked him.

"Yeah," the marine answered.

"They're invisible," the colonel told them. The ODSTs in the control room switched to VISR mode. The ODSTs fired their assault rifles and Battle Rifles at the invisible Covenant. The wounded marine saw a Grunt come around behind the sergeant; he aimed his pistol at the Grunt's head, and pulled the trigger and the Grunt fell down dead. The sergeant looks at the wounded marine and nodded his approval, but then falls to the ground with a spike to his back. Grunts were the first to enter the control room they fired their plasma pistols and Needlers at the UNSC troops in the control room. The chief stepped in front of the several Needler rounds heading for Lord Hood. He fired a three round burst from his battle rifle and was rewarded when three Grunts fell down dead from head shots. Four more Grunts fell from the colonel's and Fred's Battle rifle. Several Jackals entered the control room with their shields already activated. The chief, colonel, Fred, Kelly, and several marines activated their frag grenades and threw them over the Jackal shields, the Jackals tried to roll out of the way, but they were too late, purple blood and body parts sprayed the walls and everything in the room. Two Elite shields were drain from the grenades and Linda popped each of them in the head with her sniper rifle. A Grunt is coming behind an ODST and is going to shoot him in the back, but the colonel saw him and he assassinated the Grunt from behind.

"Thanks," the ODST told the colonel, but he only nodded. A Grunt threw a plasma grenade at the marines and it stuck to a marine's head, when it exploded it killed two more marines. ODSTs dispatched most of the Grunts with head shots from their Battle Rifle. Jason threw a frag grenade behind a whole bunch of Grunts and it killed them all. Jackals entered the control room and formed a shield wall all the way around them. Elites and Brutes came behind them. The Spartans, marines, ODSTs, along with the few UNSC Army soldiers, Jenny, Lord Hood, and Admiral Grayson took cover behind anything they could find.

"Spartans, throw grenades over their shields!" Lord Hood ordered.

"Incendiary follow by frag grenades," the colonel ordered. They first threw the incendiary grenades which killed the Jackals and disable the Elite shields, and tore the Brutes armor off. Then frag grenades followed the incendiary grenades, which finished off many of the Elites and Brutes. A Brute threw a spike grenade.

"Spike grenade!" A marine yells and ducks behind cover, the grenade hits the wall behind him, so he tore it out of the wall and threw it back to its owner. The spike grenade stuck to the Brutes head, and when it exploded it killed the Brute and wounded several Elites and Brutes that were standing to close to him. Spartan-117 and 118 charged at the surviving Covenant. Many Grunts and Jackals turned and fled, but were mowed down by the Spartans and UNSC soldiers assault weapons. More UNSC soldiers arrived that were patrolling the corridors and the regrouping Covenant were naturalize. Elite tried to stand up, but the colonel caved his skull in with his boot.

"Listen up people we're leaving this Popsicle stand. I want all personnel to meet us in the hanger bay and tell them to watch out for Covenant," the colonel told them. A marine looked at Lord Hood, he nods his head. The marine gives the order over the com.

"We didn't kill them all?" A freckle face marine asked.

"We never kill them all son," the chief answered.

"Let's move before more Covenant show up," Commander Jenny suggested. They head towards the hanger bay. They met two dozen marines and a dozen naval personnel on their way to the hanger. Most of the marines were armed with MA5B or MA5C assault rifles and BR85 Battle Rifles. The Navy personal were armed with pistols and SMGs. One marine is carrying a Machine gun and another one is carrying a flamethrower.

The Engineers have finally breeched the human base. A few UNSC Marines were caught off guards as an Engineer floats down and explodes. A Golden Armor Elite named Kaidou and his unit arrived in the human base by grav lift. Kaidou commands eighty-nine Elites, sixty Jackals, three pairs of Hunters, and five hundred Grunts all armed with a wide range of weapons to take care of the humans. A Brute Captain accompanied them, the Brute Captain commands, sixty Brutes, forty-five Jackals, and two hundred Grunts. They heard about the units that failed the Hierarch and they don't plan to fail the Hierarch. They entered the troop's barracks, a few marines and a majority of the Army soldiers that were not on duty were asleep or playing cards and thought the alarm was only a drill. The Covenant open up on the humans. An Army soldier tires to grab his rifle but is cut down. A marine grabs his MA5C assault rifle and killed several Grunts, but a Brute grabs the marine by the throat and began strangling him, the marine fired his assault rifle into the Brute but the Brute paid no attention the wounds the marine inflected upon him. He breaks the marine's neck and smells something foul; the marine must had pissed himself. Another marine is torn apart by another Brute. Another Brute stabs a marine in the gut with his bayonet underneath his Brute shot. An ODST just walked in through the barracks door and sees the carnage. He was about to flee until he was stabbed from behind by a camouflage Elite.

Blood splatters out of his mouth and he falls to the ground and his guts were falling out and then he dies. All the marines in the barracks were killed except for three ODSTs that escaped. The Covenant heads to the cafeteria, but no one was there. More units of Covenant arrived and they have been clearing the base one room at a time. They have not encountered much human resistance until they start to get closer to the hanger bay. Marines and two Army soldiers manning chain-guns opened up on the Covenant coming down the hall. Four Elite commandoes fall. One marine fire a Jackhammer at them, but a Hunter steps in its path, but the missile blew a huge hole into the Hunter's chest. The Hunter's bond brother fired its Fuel Rod Gun at the marines and army soldiers killing all four of them. The Covenant meet more Covenant on the way to the hanger bay. Little did they know that they were walking into a trap, which the UNSC set just for them? They place mines and covered them with a type of camouflage so the enemy wouldn't even know they were there. Cortana sealed all the doors leading to the hanger bay except for the way they want the Covenant to go down. The Covenant walk right into the trap and Cortana told the Chief and he hits the mines detonator. Many of the Covenant were still alive thinks to their energy shields, but that sure slow them down. Cortana brought the video of the trap up into the Master Chief's HUD. He sees that four Elites, two Hunters, five Brute Minors, and plenty of Grunts and Jackals were killed in the blast, but more Covenants arrived, but at least they slowed them down.

The Master Chief, the colonel, and all the others reached the hanger. UNSC personnel were already busy fighting with the Covenant that managed to get into the hanger bay earlier in the fighting. An army soldier tossed a grenade over several Jackals shields when it detonated it spray purple blood everywhere and wounded several Elites that stood to close to them. The Marines finished them off with a combination of MA5B and battle rifle fire. The chief's motion tractor picked up contacts coming behind them. The colonel also picked up the new contacts. He opened up the com to the other Spartans and told them about the new threat.

"Let's get in the ship," Lord Hood suggested. They started to board the ship after they took care of the rest of the Covenant inside the hanger bay. Many Covenant were behind cover as the UNSC soldiers and Spartans kept the enemy suppressed so the technicians and the ship's crew could board without getting shot in the back. However, more Covenant forces were on their way to the hanger. Linda popped any Covenant that showed their head. Lord Hood, Commander Jenny Hood, Admiral Grayson, most of the naval personnel and four regular marines boarded to provide security for the bridge. The colonel was the last one to board the ship, but before the ramp close a Brute fired his Spiker and it hit him in the shoulder. The colonel fall to his knees before getting up and walking further into the ship and pulls the spike out of his shoulder. He heads to the medical bay and as soon as he enters Dr. Halsey sees him.

"You're hurt Heath," she says. She has never called any of her Spartans by their ranks or their numbers but by their names, which the Spartans don't like but they have gotten used to it. "Let's take a look at that wound and get your shields back online." He removed April's chip from the back of his helmet and placed it into an AI port. April's image appeared.

"Have we taken off yet?" The colonel asked her.

"No, we haven't," April replied.

"What about the Covenant outside the base?"

"The base auto-turrets are dealing with them," April answered. Dr. Halsey sedated him.

"I'm sorry Heath, but this is for your own good." Doctor Halsey sedated him and he fell hard but thanks to his armor, he wasn't hurt.

On the bridge, the Master Chief arrived and placed Cortana in the AI port. "Hang on," Cortana told them. She ignited the engines and any Covenant behind the engines were roasted, and they started down a long tunnel.

"Commander Jenny, open up those dam hanger doors," Admiral Grayson told her.

"Aye, Aye sir," she answered before opening up the hanger doors. They exit the Antarctica Base and see a Covenant Cruiser headed right towards them with its plasma turrets hot.

"What's our weapon status Cortana?" Lord Hood asked.

"MAC guns fully charge, Archer missile pods are full, rail-guns online, Ion cannon online, and four Silva warheads online," Cortana answered.

"What's our shield status?"

"Shields, this ship has shields?" The Master Chief asked.

"Yes chief, this is one of the new UNSC ships," Admiral Grayson told him.

"Primary and secondary shields online," Cortana reported. The Covenant cruiser fired its plasma turrets at the UNSC Destroyer. The crew onboard the UNSC destroyer prayed that the ship's shields would hold and that it wasn't a waste of time installing them, and the shields held. While the Covenant cruiser was recharging their plasma turrets the UNSC Destroyer, Silent Hammer, returned fire. The two MAC guns fire three rounds apiece at the Covenant Cruiser.

"Arm Archer missile pods A1-A7 and fire," Lord Hood ordered. The first three rounds form the MAC guns knocked out the ships shields; the next three rounds gutted the ship, and the Archer missile pods finished it off.

"Sir, we're detecting another Covenant ship, correction make that four Covenant ships, heading right for us, ETA three minutes," a naval person told Lord Hood from the radar station.

"Cloak it now," Lord Hood ordered, so Cortana cloaked the ship. The three Covenant ships search everywhere for the UNSC ship but their scanners could not pinpoint or find the ship. The cloaked UNSC Destroyer Silent Hammer continued on to the Alamo I, somewhere in desert of Australia or Africa, the exact location is classified.

"Commander Jenny, I want you to report to the medical bay and get that ankle looked after."

"Yes sir," she said saluting. She then leaves, followed by the Master Chief.

Shipmaster Veo watched as one of his cruisers fired on the human ship, but did not destroy it, but when it fired it destroyed his ship. "Why did we not destroy that ship," Veo asked one of the Elites on the bridge.

"I believe shipmaster they have shields now," an Elite replied.

"Shields, the Ultimate Shipmaster is not going to like this or the Hierarch." He replied. "How did they get shields on their ships? Send in three more ships." He watches as more ships were approaching the human ship and then suddenly it is gone. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"Well the Arbiter been helping them," an Elite told him.

"Shipmaster, we found another human base," Elite on the bridge told him.

"Where is it?" Veo asked.

"At a place the humans call Australia," the Elite replied.

"Evac our forces, we shall take our revenge on these humans," Veo told them. "Order all my ships under my command to head for Australia."

"As you wish shipmaster," the Elite reply. They start to Evac their troops from the surface and then headed for Australia. The base didn't self-destruct because Covenant engineers disable the device. A Covenant cruiser was going to remain along with about two thousand Covenant infantry to make sure it wasn't recaptured.

"Admiral Grayson, was the data at the base destroyed?" Lord Hood asked.

"Yes sir, and the artifacts were placed in the vault and all blast doors leading to the vault have been sealed and turrets are all armed. It should take the Covenant months to get to the vault and a few months to cut through. "Admiral Grayson replied.

"Good, at least they want be able to get our data on everything we've been doing."

Shipmaster Veo attempted to attack Sydney but failed as two of his support ships were destroyed in the ocean and his ship sustained moderate damage. The Ultimate Shipmaster ordered him to the orbiting Covenant space dock for repairs. The Covenant were reinforce by five more ships.


	9. Chapter 9: Battle of Alamo 1 Part 1

**Disclaimer: Normal disclaimer applied**

First Battle of Alamo 1

Part 1

The Silent Hammer was making its way to an UNSC base somewhere in Egypt. As they were approaching the base, Cortana brought the base schematics up onto the holo table. "What is the base defensive armament like Cortana?" Lord Hood asked.

"The armaments include 16 MAC guns, 5 Super MACs guns, and forty-six rail-guns," Cortana answered.

"Tell me about the base Cortana?"

"Parts of the base is built into the Pyramid, and it protects a nearby city. An ONI building is in the center of the base surrounded by a moat, the entire city is surrounded by a wall, with all kinds of bunkers, and outside of the base is a trench. On top of the wall are all kinds of weapon emplacements including heavy artillery pieces and several MAC guns," Cortana answered Lord Hood question.

"Is there an underground area?" Lord Hood asked.

"Aye sir, it's underneath the pyramid and underneath the city as well," Cortana answered.

"Cortana this isn't a pyramid built by the ancient Egyptians?" The Master Chief asked.

"No, it was built in 2550 three years before the Fall of Reach," she answered.

"Cortana deactivate cloak," Lord Hood told her.

"Aye, Aye sir," Cortana replied. The ships cloak was deactivated.

"Sir, we're being hailed," a crewman manning communication reported to Lord Hood.

"Put it through," Lord Hood told them.

"Undefined craft you have entered restricted airspace answer now or you shall be fired upon."

"Sir, MAC guns are coming online," Cortana told him.

"Open up a channel," Lord Hood told her. A channel was open.

"This is Lord Hood sorry about the disable IFF tag, but we haven't installed one on our new battleship," Lord Hood said over the radio.

"Roger, Hanger Bay 64 is open for you," another voice answered. A bay opened up in the ground and the Silent Hammer landed inside and then the hanger bay door closed behind them. The Master Chief, Lord Hood, Commander Jenny, and all the rest of the survivors from Antarctica exited the ship and were met by the base commander and two dozen UNSC regular marines. They went to attention and saluted. Lord Hood returns the salute. Colonel Heath-118 and the other wounded soldiers were taken to the med bay.

"Master Chief, I want you to prepare the UNSC ground troops for a massive attack," Lord Hood told him.

"Sir Yes sir," Master Chief replied, saluting and then heading topside with the rest of the Spartans behind him, except for three Spartan-IVs. Since Colonel Heath-118 was wounded the Master Chief assumed command of the Spartans until Heath recovered from his wounds, and apparently Lord Hood placed him in command of the troops holding off the Covenant as well.

"What's your name?" Lord Hood asked the base commander.

"Lieutenant Colonel Murphy sir," the base commander replied.

"Take me to the control room."

"Yes sir," Murphy replied. Lord Hood had April's chip in his hand. They headed to the control room. The two MPs outside of the control room snapped to attention as Lord Hood, LT. Colonel Murphy, Commander Jenny, and the admiral walked pass them. The people inside also went to attention as well as the civilians working for the UNSC.

"As you were," Lord Hood told them. He plugged April's chip into a port and her image appeared. "April, I want a report on the Covenant."

"Detecting a massive Covenant Ship on its way."

"How long will it take the ship to reach this base?" Lieutenant Colonel Murphy asked her.

"Couple of hours sir, they're moving slow. They must think we have some secret weapon underneath the water to blow them out of the sky. They'll most likely land the ship outside of the MAC guns protective area."

"Send out a flight of A-12s to sees what they can find out," Lieutenant Colonel Murphy told a person on one of the computers. The A-12 is a new fighter designed for atmosphere conditions. They were designed to be able to take on Covenant Seraph Fighters in dogfighting as well as Phantoms, Sprits, Vampires, and of course Banshees. They closely resemble the A-10 Warthogs that were used back in the 21st Century.

"Yes Sir," she answered. Four A-12 pilots headed for their fighters. Once they were in their fighters they launched out of Hanger Bay C. The A-12 fighter pilots hoped that they all would make it back to base for another run against the Covenant. After about an hour, they saw a Covenant Carrier supported by two Corvette-class Covenant ships, and the Covenant carrier launched several squadrons of fighters.

"At least it's not a Super-carrier," one A-12 pilot said. Nobody said anything else, they just armed their missiles.

"Break off, get those fighters to split off and engage you one at a time. Try to get them to follow you back to base so the AA batteries can knock them out of the sky," the leader of the A-12 squadron told the rest of the pilots. "Good Luck gentleman and I hope to see you all back at base."

"Roger," they replied. The battle between the Covenant Seraph fighters did not last long since the A-12s were outnumbered, but they managed to destroy one squadron of Seraph fighters and crippled another squadron and they got the Intel Lord Hood needed. They returned to base and the Seraph fighters following behind them were vaporized by the bases AA batteries. three A-12's were destroyed, their pilots ejected at the last second, and the remaining A-12 was crippled, it would take several days before it'll be battle ready once again. The surviving pilots were picked up by a Pelican supported by a squadron of A-12s and two squadrons of Longswords, but the Covenant felt no reason to attack them, which was a little strange.

Meanwhile in the medical bay, Dr. Halsey brought up Colonel Heath-118 MRI shots. "It's amazing that you're still alive after the beating you took in Antarctica," she said. "Of course that's why we created the Spartan-II's anyway to be almost indestructible. You're unique among the other Spartan-II's, you have all the skills of all the other Spartans." She read through the colonel's mission reports since the war with the Covenant began and his service record. I made the right decision when I choose you to be the commander of my Spartan-II's and I was right to choose John as your second in command. Your parents were both in the UNSC I'm sorry that you lost them when the Covenant attack Earth. She sees some of the files are encrypted but she knew how to get through it. "ONI had the colonel go on classified missions with the Spartan-III's several times. She read that he couldn't tell anyone about the existence of the Spartan-III's. She saw that he trained a team of Spartan-III's known only has Zodiac Team. She brought them up; they were deployed on a Top Secret mission only the colonel and several officers in High Com knew where they are. ONI also covers up the colonel's knowledge of the Covenant technology but how is that possible." She would have to ask him sometime later on, but right now she has surgery to perform on him. She glances back at his record, "We're going to need you really soon Heath. Mendez and the High Command choose the right person to lead all the Spartans."

On board a Covenant Destroyer an Elite captain is talking with the Ultimate Shipmaster, "Send your three ships to the location of the UNSC base in what the humans call the Sahara Desert. We have intercepted a human transmission that they have a Forerunner artifact in their possession. I'll inform the shipmaster heading to a decoy human base to come to your aide captain," the Ultimate shipmaster told the captain. The three Covenant Ships got on their way to the UNSC base. Two of the Covenant ships are frigates and the other is a carrier.

Six hours later Colonel Heath-118 awoke in the medical bay. "Where am I?" Colonel Heath asked. April's image appeared right next to him.

"Glad to see that you're awake colonel," she said to him. "You're in medical bay 7."

"What the status of the Covenant?"

"There still on their way here."

"Where's the Master Chief and the other Spartans?"

"The Master Chief is seeing to the defense of this base," Cortana answered.

"It's time for me to join them," he answered as he got off the bed and removed the IV's from his arm.

"You know you shouldn't be moving around, you're too injured even with the biofoam in you, and those are the doctor's orders."

"I don't take orders from civilians," he replied.

"You know your attitude as changed a lot," she told him.

"Noted, where are Lord Hood and Commander Jenny?"

"They're in the control room." He left the room and headed for the base control room. The marine MP's went to attention as he walked passed them, they noticed his hospital gown but didn't say anything about it.

"Sir," Colonel Heath-118 said to Lord Hood and he turned around.

"Dr. Halsey said you wouldn't be around for a couple of weeks."

"I'm good to go sir," the colonel answered, then Dr. Halsey walks in.

"You know you should be in bed from all the injures you sustain."

"I'm good ma'am," he answered.

"Heath, I never knew you or John would tell an outright lie." She looked at him. "Very well you, know you condition better than I do."

"Dr. Halsey we're going to need him in the coming fight because I believe this will be a hard fight. Show them April." A screen popped on showing the layout of the area surrounding the base.

"Three hours ago our satellites detected this Covenant ships we've been tracking since they left Antarctica, they have landed and are unloading troops along with vehicles," April told them. "Ten more Covenant ships are on their way here from Australia, ETA 3 hours, they're going slow, it looks like they took a beating when they got closer to the continent."

"You and your Spartans have command over the defense of this base. You leave the Covenant ships to me," Lord Hood told Colonel Heath-118.

"Yes sir," he said saluting. Colonel Heath-118 turned towards Dr. Halsey. "Ma'am I'm going to need a new set of MJOLNIR armor," Heath told Dr. Halsey.

"I've got the perfect suit for you Heath, it's an updated version to the current model of MJOLNIR armor and the only one of its kind," She told him. They left the control room and headed to one of the labs.

Inside of the lab Colonel Heath-118 saw the new MJOLNIR armor suit Doctor Halsey was talking about. He's shocked to see it looks similar to the one he's been wearing over the years. "I've been designing this suit specifically for you," She told Heath. The colonel just stood and stared at the new armor.

"Could you tell me about the armor ma'am?"

"The armor is similar to every MJOLNIR armor you have worn to the date except for a few improvements we made. Since you're a qualified sword fighter we installed an energy sword in a holder within your leg, while it's in there it also recharges. The shields on this MJOLNIR armor recharge a lot faster and are even stronger than any other MJOLNIR armor that is currently out there. You still have a port for AI. We have also installed an advance motion tracker that should give you the locations of friendlies and enemies even if they're using suppress weapons, and you have a new health gauge."

"Does it work well in space?" The colonel asked her.

"Yes it does," she answered. The colonel puts on the new armor with some help from technicians. "Good luck colonel and come back alive, that's an order."

"Yes ma'am," he replied. He headed topside to join the chief and to prepare for the Covenant attack.

Colonel Heath-118 arrived on the surface and he walked out of the pyramid where sandbag emplacements surrounded the entrance. There were eight Heavy machine guns guarding the approaches. They even have barriers around the area to give the defenders cover. He saw Scythes setup around the pyramid along with M95 Lance Anti-Aircraft battery's and some SAM sites. A Hog pulled up next to him. "Sir I'll take you to the Chief. He is in a building not far from the battlements," a marine told him. The colonel got in and the marine hit the accelerator. As the marine is driving, the colonel is looking at what's going on around him. He sees barriers being raise from the ground similar to the New Mombasa layout. He looks up into the building and sees sandbags being place around as two marines are checking their weapons. The Warthog pulled up to a building with a wall surrounding the building two ODST stood guard at the building's gate. The colonel got out and He walks pass the two ODSTs, they didn't even bothered to stop him. The Master Chief was waiting for him at the door. "Welcome to the party sir," the Master Chief said to the colonel.

"Glad to be here Chief, now let's sees what we can do to welcome our party guest," the colonel responds as they entered the building


	10. Chapter 10: Battle of Alamo 1 Part 2

The First Battle of Alamo 1

Part 2

"So what's our defensive strategy chief?"

"Well sir, the Covenant will have to cross the open plains and we hope to turn that whole area into a huge killing field. As you know sir there are trenches outside of the cities walls as well as tank traps. The battlements are where we'll fight the Covenant from," Master Chief John -117 replied.

"Master Chief you do know that eventually the Covenant will break through the walls and enter the city," the colonel replied.

"Yes sir I know, when that happens we'll fight them inside the city," Master Chief responded.

"Tell me about how we'll do that?"

"The city is narrow so the Covenant will have to fight us street to street and house to house. Covenant armor will have to move single file through the city then we can attack from multiple angles. Marines are setting up M68 Guess Cannons as well as other heavy weaponry such as the AIE-486H Heavy machine gun. They are also setting up barricades to slow down any Covenant advance and to use for cover."

"What kind of defenses does this base have?"

"You mean other than the Super MACs?" Heath nodded. "There are 12 smaller MAC guns right on the battlements around the city. The controls for them are in the bunker built right into the MAC gun itself. There are also all kinds of anti-air armaments," the chief responded. "This way the gunners are protected from any return fire.

"What kind of weapons are on the battlements, chief?"

"There are all different kinds of weapons, but also on the battlements are Rhinos, several Grizzly's, Cobras, as well as some Wolverines," the Master Chief answered. "There are also several Scorpion Main Battle Tanks on the walls as well."

"These weapons won't be able to hit the Covenant if they get below the walls, they can't aim down." He said looking at a hologram of the city.

"They walls have gun ports in them, some of them big enough for a tank to fire through. Plus we have racks of explosives and incendiaries that we can drop onto them if they are below us."

"Similar to the tactic they used in castles," Heath said and John nodded. "What's the status of the Covenant?" Heath asked April over his coms.

"The Covenant ships we've been tracking are still on their way here, the Covenant ground forces are still making their way here as well."

"I don't understand why the ship doesn't glass this entire base." the Master Chief asked as the Arbiter entered.

"Maybe I can answer that question," the Arbiter said. "The new Covenant leader has told his forces not to destroy any human base or cities because he believes there could Forerunner Technology all over the planet and he wants to enslave humanity."

"How do you know this?" The Master Chief asked.

"Our spies within the Covenant Armada have relayed the information to me," the Arbiter replied.

"Why did they destroy the Spartan base then?" The colonel asked, already knowing the answer.

"They destroyed the base because you Spartans are a more serious threat to them then the regular humans they face. They know some of you survived, but they're not really worried about that."

"I guess we better change their minds," the chief replied.

"Colonel, I'm detecting thirty-five phantoms and ten Sprits on approach, they'll be in range of the MAC guns in twenty-one minutes," April told him.

"Everybody report to your battle stations," the colonel said over the comms.

April was busy doing several things at once since she was inside the base systems and not in the Colonel's helmet. She's monitoring the Covenant ships as well as the troops on the ground and is also monitoring the status of the new weapon in the UNSC arsenal. She also has control over the base's MAC guns which are not as strong as the Super MAC gun and can't fire as far as the Super MAC gun. The other MAC guns can only fire two or more football fields long, these are different from the ship base MAC guns as well as the Super MAC gun, but there is a problem with the base's 4 Super MAC gun that April is trying to figure out. She had destroyed an enemy cruiser that strayed into the Super MAC guns range just before they started to have problems. The enemy cruiser went down over the Atlantic, later Lord Hood may send out divers to see if anything is left of the ship. Since the MAC guns are computer controlled April is controlling them. The shell from the MAC Guns tore through the weak armor of ten Phantoms before they could even unload their troops onto the desert floor. The same fate happened to three Sprit drop-ships. The surviving Phantoms and Sprits moved away from the human base and unloaded their troops outside the range of the MAC Guns.

"April stop firing, we may need the MAC Guns later," Colonel Heath-118 told her over the radio in his helmet so she stopped firing them. The colonel and the Master Chief are in a tower overlooking the approach the Covenant would have to take to attack the base. The colonel looked to his right and left and saw artillery pieces on both sides. The defenders on the cities walls have good fields of fire and some parts have a roof over marines head. On the battlements they have AIE-486H Heavy machine guns, LAU-65D/SGM-151 Missile Pods, M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket Launchers, Spartan Lasers, SRS 99D-S2 AM sniper rifles, M29 Rocket Launchers, and the .50 caliber Gatling gun. The M29 Rocket Launcher holds four rockets instead of two; it's got lock-on so it's effective against moving infantry, armor, and air. They are also several Guess cannons in fixed positions. He saw UNSC soldiers carrying MA37 Assault Rifles, M392 Designated Marksman Rifle or DMR, and some are even armed with the M319 Grenade Launcher.

An Elite in silver armor looked at the human base from his vantage point on top of a hill. He and three hundred of his fellow Sangheili had arrived on Ghosts. The Phantoms dropped off four Wraiths as well as 430 Covenant infantry troops consisting of Jiralhanae, Magalekgolo, Unggoy, Kig-Yar, Skirmishers, and their fellow Sangheili. The Sangheili in silver armor saw many Sangheili ranks, majority of them are Elite Minors, though there are ten Elite Majors, six Elite Ultra, and five Zealots. The Jiralhanae ranks are mostly Brute Minors, with five Brute Majors, twenty Brute captains, and four Chieftains. The Sprit drop-ships unloaded 120 additional Covenant, most of them Unggoy, but a few Elite Rangers and several Brutes with Jump Packs. The Silver armor Elite knows that the humans have mines in front of the base therefore, he must find out how to clear them so they could enter the base unhindered. The Elite decided to set up an encampment so he ordered his troops to start setting up defensive positions.

Inside of a tower, Colonel Heath-118 could see the enemy encampment. The towers are four to six stories tall with all kinds of weapons emplacements on them. Several of the towers had five inch, or 130 millimeter, auto loading naval guns that were on destroyers back in the 21st century, with some retrofitting. The colonel turned to one of the personal in the tower, "The skies are clear at the moment colonel," a UNSC army soldier told him. Then all of sudden a big blip appeared on the radar. "Uh Sir we got incoming I'm counting three hundred Banshees and Seraphs."

"Tell the gun crews to man those triple-A guns, April get the automated weapons online. Lord Hood, should we send up fighters to engage them sir?"

"That's a negative son, we don't want to waste the fighters at this moment," Lord Hood replied over the colonel's radio in his helmet. UNSC Marines and Army as well as several Spartans maned the missile pods and Lucy got into a gunners seat for a rail-gun.

"Enemy in range in three seconds, two, one, open fire!" the radar operator said over the radio. The rail-guns and missile pods opened up on the approach of the enemy fighters. A large number of Banshees were destroyed before they even could get off a round. A Seraph fighter was also destroyed from multiple hits. The Banshees fired their fuel rode cannons, destroying several missile pods and killing any solder around them. The rail-guns destroyed several Banshees and Seraph fighters and the Wolverines in the grounds behind the walls and on the walls destroyed multiple Banshees and Seraph fighters as well. The Sliver armor Elite ordered the fighters to retreat to avoid additional losses so the enemy fighters withdrew.

"What's the damage?" Heath asked.

"Minimum, the fighters only killed 12 soldiers another 12 were wounded, the medics are seeing to them those hurt, the critically wounded are being sent to one of the hospitals. They on destroyed a few non critical weapon emplacements which we can replace, but they didn't destroy any of the anti-air batteries or the MAC guns and there was hardly any damage to the city," a soldier told him.

"Good," Spartan-118 replied. "At least most of those MAC guns have anti-air batteries protecting them." He said to himself.

"Colonel, there something I want to show you," the Master Chief said to the colonel.

"What do you want to show me?" The colonel asked. They go down to the bottom of the tower, and the chief open a door on the right side of the wall where the wall was and they go inside. Inside of the wall heath saw the artillery pieces as well as an auto-loader similar to the towers auto-loader for the naval guns.

"What do you think sir?" The Master Chief asked.

"I think the Covenant are going to be in for one hell of a surprise," the colonel replied before they climbed the stairs to get back onto the battlements. "I'm betting the Covenant are getting ready to send in their ground forces."

"You're right sir, Cortana just informed me that a large number of Covenant forces just arrived at the enemies' encampment and more are still on their way," the chief replied.

"John, replace the weapons we lost in the air raid and make sure we have spotters watching the skies." John nodded.

While the Banshees and Seraph fighters were keeping the UNSC forces busy, two thousand Ghosts arrived along with a thousand Choppers, thirteen Specters, a thousand Shadows, thirty Prowlers, two hundred Wraiths, twelve Revenants, and twenty five anti-air Wraiths. A Zealot came up to the Elite in silver armor. "General Xytan Taham we're ready to begin. Five Scarabs and a dozen Locusts along with more Shadows are on their way here. Three Cruisers and two Carriers are launching additional Phantoms and Sprits to reinforce you," the Zealot told him.

"Thank you major," General Xytan Taham replied. "Send in the Choppers and Prowlers along with additional Jiralhanae, let them die first, we must not forget that they betrayed us a long time ago." The Brute Choppers and Prowlers charged straight for the walls behind them are the Jiralhanae infantry consisting of four Chieftains with various weapons like Fuel Rod Cannons, Gravity Hammers, and Plasma Cannons, Brute Captains and the captain variants, Brute Bodyguard, Brute Stalkers, Brute majors and a lot of Brute minors. Twelve pairs of Hunters accompanying them, as well as numerous Grunts, Jackals, Skirmishers, and Drones.

On the battlements Colonel Heath-118 and Master Chief John-117 could see the Brutes heading straight for the base. They both knew the first brutes would clear the minefield for the following attacks. Heath looked around and saw all the UNSC personal were at their battle positions. The Brute Choppers were the first to plow into the minefield, which resulted in the loss of half of the attacking Choppers. The surviving Choppers continued on to the UNSC base where they fired their 35mm auto-cannons at the walls, but to no effect. The soldier in firing pits outside of the city wall fired their rocket launchers at the oncoming enemy vehicles and many of the Choppers were destroyed. The tanks even added their deadly fire to the marines with rocket launchers. The men on the walls also added their fire. The land in front of the UNSC Base/city was not a place you want to be if you're an enemy soldier. Some of the mines that the Choppers didn't hit, Brute infantry walked over and they got blown to pieces and some time you couldn't find what was left of them. A shell from a Grizzly tank blew a Brute in half and it happened to several more Brutes before Four Brute Choppers headed straight for the Grizzly. The Grizzly fired two rounds, destroying two of the Choppers and while it was reloading the remaining two were able to nibble on the Grizzly, but not completely destroy it, before the other two Brute Choppers were destroyed. The Grizzly was finally destroyed after wreaking havoc on the attacking Covenant forces. Even though the Brutes were wearing their power armor, they didn't stand a chance against all the firepower heading their way. Artillery shells blew Brutes in two or landed in front of them, killing many.

Four Jiralhanae rushed a firing pit and they fired their Spikers at the UNSC soldiers in the firing pit. The UNSC marines in the firing pit didn't stand a chance. Several marines and army were shot off the walls. An ODST with an M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket Launcher fired it at the Jiralhanae in the firing pit and there was nothing left but body parts of both human and Covenant Brutes. Ten Brutes took cover in a shell hole; they keep popping up to take pop shot at the defenders on the walls and in the trench outside. Linda has already nailed three Brutes that stuck their head up over the top of the shell hole from her advantage point on the building across from the city wall. An artillery piece fired from a building and the shell landed in the shell hole, killing the Brutes. Two pairs of Hunters appeared behind their shields and they manage to destroy the last tank outside of the base, but a Grizzly and a Cobra aimed at each Hunter in turn. The Hunters shields' couldn't withstand the shells from the Grizzly and the Cobra so the Hunters were blasted into oblivion. The rest of the Brutes were cut to shreds by tanks, artillery, mortars, and small arms fire. The War Chieftain standing by the Silver armored Elite was getting very angry about the slaughter of his fellow pack brothers, but while the battle was going on reinforcements arrived in force. "Now the humans are going to pay," the Elite in silver armor said. The Silver armored Sangheili ordered half of his forces forward. This time the attack would be supported by tanks and fighters. He also sent Drones out to fight since his fighters were leaving the ships.

"Drones incoming!" Major Rhodes yelled over the radio. Major Tristan Rhodes is one of the UNSC Army's airborne soldiers. He fought in New Mombasa in 2552 as well as the 2nd Battle of Earth. The men manning the turrets looked up at the oncoming Drones. Even the marines, army and Spartans that were not manning weapon emplacements looked up and began firing onto the attacking Drones. The colonel shot down ten Drones with his MA5D Assault rifle. He then looks up and saw two plasma mortars heading over his head and into the field behind the city wall. He looked and saw Covenant troops heading right for the city walls. The Wraiths fired again, but this time they hit either outside what the UNSC calls No Man's land or it hit the towers, causing minimum damage. The old naval guns with newer shells fired onto the Wraith tanks and onto the Covenant infantry. The 5 inch rounds went straight through the tanks and infantry, killing everything in its path. Wraith tanks soon scored a direct hit on one of the guns destroying it, but luckily it didn't blow up any of the ordinance since they're stored underneath the tower. A Wraith tank also managed to score a direct hit on the battlements killing several UNSC soldiers and wounding more. The wounded are evacuated to the pyramid. The Wraith tank is then destroyed by a Spartan laser. The silver armor Elite ordered the tanks to fall back before sending it his aircraft. The Banshees and Seraph fighters returned and several of the Banshees were blown out of the sky when they made their first pass. Several Seraph fighters were also destroyed on their first pass as well. On their second pass more of the Covenant fighters were destroyed. The objective of the fighters was to destroy the naval guns and as many vehicles as possible. Seraph fighters have managed to take out three of the guns, but not the towers, though several of the rail-guns managed to shoot down three Seraph fighters, destroying them completely.

One Banshee spun out of control and crashed into the command tower, but it did little damage. Many of the Seraph fighters were destroyed by the automated anti-air turrets. Even though the Seraphs have shields, the missiles were designed to defeat them. The Drones were slaughtered, but they gave the infantry time to get a little closer. The Unggoy hit several mines that weren't already triggered, killing many and wounding many others. Elites shot the wounded Grunts and urge the rest of the infantry forward. A Banshee making another pass was shot down over No Man's Land and it crashed into several Jackals as they approach the wall with their shields overlapped and only a handful survived, but a shell from a Scorpion tank fixed that. One of the Scorpions on the wall blasted a Banshee out of the sky and it crashed in the field. The UNSC soldiers in the firing pits and trench fired everything they had at the oncoming Covenant forces. Grunts, Jackals, Elites, and two pairs of Hunters overrun the trench, but the soldiers in the trench managed to kill many of them before getting overrun. The colonel watched as Covenant troops got into the trench and took pop shot at the defenders on the walls. Linda and several ODSTs snipers in a building known as Sniper 1 shot as many of the Covenant as they could before they had to duck back into cover to avoid the return fire from Covenant snipers. The Covenant Wraith tanks were taking a terrible beating from the naval guns, but the Elite in charge of the Wraiths wouldn't allow them to fall back even though the Silver armored Elite in charge of the attack ordered them to fall back. Multiple Skirmishers were killed as they are assaulting the human base. Lucy shot several of them in the head. "Those Skirmishers are fast," one marine commented.

"You need to anticipate where they will go and lead the target," another marine replied as he shoots one in the head with his DMR.

The Elite in silver armor looked through his binoculars and saw the Arbiter on the walls fighting alongside the humans. The Arbiter had stabbed several Elites in the chest with his energy sword when Kelly came up and shot several Grunts that were coming up behind him. An Elite Minor shot her in the shoulder with an over-charge plasma pistol so she turned around and fired the rest of her clip in her MA5D assault rifle into the Elite. The Elite's shields crackled and then failed allowing rounds to tear into the Elite, killing him. Not many of his forces have even gotten onto the walls. Several Skirmishers jumped on the walls but they picked the wrong wall to get on, the Spartan-IVs there slaughter them. He turned to his general staff.

"Order our troops to use portable grav lifts to get onto the battlements," he told his officers. They all nod.

"Excellency, they are using grav lifts but the humans and separatists are keeping us from getting a foothold on their base," one of the Elite majors told him. He stabbed the elite with his energy sword out of frustration.

"Kill the Arbiter and any Elite Separatist fighting alongside the humans; This I command."

The colonel had the detonator for the explosives in the trench, and pits. He pressed the detonator and explosions rip through the trenching killing all within. Dead bodies and even body parts flew in every direction. None of the Covenant inside the trench survived the explosion. The Covenant infantry froze after seeing what just happen, until their commanders recovered and ordered them forward. Colonel Heath-118 fired his MA5D at the Grunts coming towards the wall. He shot several before they could activate the portable grav lifts they carried. Several Elites threw down deployable cover to give them extra protection. A shell from a tank took out five Sangheili and several Jackals that decided to stay behind one of those deployable cover. The Master Chief threw a Power drainer down into the mass of Covenant; Elite shields failed, Jackals shields were destroyed, and Brutes Power armor was drained so the UNSC soldiers, as well as the Master Chief, fired onto the vulnerable Covenant troops. They even throw fragmentation and plasma grenades into the ranks of the Covenant. A couple of Brutes managed to activate some Bubble shields. Many of Covenant troops are at the base of the walls and the only way the UNSC troops can fire on the covenant is to expose themselves to deadly return fire, except they can drop grenades down onto the ranks of Covenant forces gathering along the walls and they did. The colonel saw another wave of Covenant infantry heading his way along with a couple of Wraiths. Several Grunts managed to throw down some grav lifts before they were killed by the defenders. Elite Minors and Brute Minors used the grav lifts to get onto the wall. The colonel threw a fragmentation grenade towards a group of Jackals heading for a grav lift with overlapping shields, he knew the grenade may do nothing and it didn't, except for destroying the grav lift.

It did give him time to grab a Rocket launcher and fire it into the mass of Jackals and their dead bodies were thrown into every direction. UNSC marines as well as any Army troopers with a MA5B, MA5C, and MA5Ds assault rifle that was equipped with grenade launchers underneath it fired them into the advancing enemy. Many Covenant are killed from the High Explosive Grenades as well as from the incendiary grenades they fired next. An Elite shield's collapsed and he is terminated by a marine on a mini-gun. A dozen Elite with ignited energy swords arrived on the battlement via the grav lifts and began killing marines and army troopers who were busy trying to keep more Covenant troops from getting onto the battlements. Grunts and Jackals followed the Elite warriors. A UNSC Army soldier throws a fragmentation grenade into the attacking Elites, Grunts, and Jackals, but the Elites survived the explosion but the lesser Covenant weren't so lucky. The Elites charged straight at the lone soldier, several of his buddies were busy at the time with other Covenant that got onto the wall so they couldn't come to his aide, but another army soldier came to help him and together they sprayed the Elites with full automatic fire, since the Elite shields were already weaken it didn't take much to put them down for good. The Arbiter killed several loyalist Elites that managed to get onto the wall with his energy sword. Two Skirmishers were eliminated by UNSC army soldiers with DMRs. Four more Covenant soldiers fall one after another, including an Elite officer.

General Xytan Taham was watching the battlefield through his binoculars. He saw several Hunters get blown to pieces by tanks, Cobras, and Rhinos. His infantry were being cut to pieces. He dare not send another wave in when the enemies' fire is so great. He decided to wait for additional reinforcements so he could overrun the humans' defenses with ease. So his forces withdrew and many Covenant were killed as they withdrew. Once the battle ended, the wounded were sent back to hospitals and aide stations; some would return later, others would be out for weeks, possibly months.


	11. Chapter 11: Battle of Alamo 1 Part 3

**Disclaimer: Halo belongs to 343 Industries**

* * *

First Battle of Alamo 1

Part 3

The UNSC soldiers on the city walls were able to relax once the last Covenant assault had ended. They knew that the Covenant were not going to give up so easily and that they were probably preparing for round two. "What do you think their next move will be sir," Fred asked the colonel. Colonel Heath-118 didn't answer immediately as he was looking out onto the battlefield. "I don't know Fred, let's see to the wounded for now, but keep some soldiers watching just in case."

"Yes sir," Fred replied. He saluted and the colonel returned the salute. A UNSC Army private first class walked up to the colonel and saluted him, the colonel returned the salute.

"Sir, Lord Hood would like to see you and the chief," the PFC told the colonel.

"Thank you private," the colonel replied. "Fred, you're in command while we're gone."

"Yes sir," he said saluting and Heath returned the salute. The colonel and the Master Chief headed to the pyramid and they entered the pyramid a few minutes later. They descended into the bowels of the Earth were they were met by four MPs. They showed the colonel and the Master Chief to the control room. They entered the control room and saluted Lord Hood, Admiral Grayson, Lieutenant Colonel Murphy, and Commander Jenny. They returned the salute to the two Spartans.

"I hear you beat off the first two Covenant assaults colonel," Lord Hood asked them.

"Yes sir," Colonel Horton replied.

"Colonel, what do you think will happen next?" Commander Jenny Hood asked.

"I know the Covenant needs to take out our defensive weapons, especially the MAC Guns and our other air defenses so their Phantoms could land or a cruiser could hover over the city and send down troops to take the city," the colonel answered.

"The MAC Guns are spread out all over the place, how could the Covenant take them all offline?" Lieutenant Colonel Murphy asked.

"They did it on Reach, but there was no MAC Guns on the surface. I think the Covenant will eventually get through our defenses."

"Master Chief, what do you think?" Admiral Grayson asked.

"I agree with the colonel, sir" the Master Chief replied.

"Colonel, whatever you suggest to defend this city, base, and citizens; we'll do it," Lord Hood told him.

"Thank you sir, now if you would excuse me, I should return to the front lines," the colonel replied. The Master Chief and the colonel returned to the cities walls. "Any sign of the Covenant Fred?" Fred was watching no man's land as the UNSC marines were gathering weapons and bodies, if there was anything left of the UNSC bodies, from outside of the wall.

"No sir," Fred replied.

"Keep alert," Heath told him.

"Yes sir," Fred replied, giving him a fast salute. The colonel returned the salute in kind.

"Fred, get all the surviving Spartans together. Major Rhodes, gather Sergeant Buck and his team along with your team," Colonel Heath-118 told them.

"Yes sir," they replied. They gathered all the Spartans, Sergeant Buck's team, and Major Rhodes men. The Spartans and the ODSTs stood at attention.

"The Covenant wants those weapon emplacements taken out. Our objective is to make sure that doesn't happen," the colonel told them. "Does anyone have any ideas?"

"Sir, why don't we take the fight to the Covenant for a change," Major Rhodes suggested.

"That could work major, I'll take that under advisement," Colonel Heath replied. "Anyone else has any more ideas?"

"Sir, why don't we do what Major Rhodes suggested?" Fred asked.

"I plan on doing just that, but we need to guard the two generators that are near here, as well as the defensive armaments near the wall," Colonel Heath-118 told them.

"That'll take some work, there's a lot of defensive weapon emplacements," Fred said.

"Yes I know, some of them are along the walls, but we need to make sure the MAC guns stay safe and that any area that'll make good landing zones for Covenant aircraft are covered."

"Yes sir," they replied.

"When do we attack the Covenant encampment?" Master Chief asked.

"Tonight," the colonel answered. In the meantime Spartan-118 headed to one of the anti-aircraft batteries. Two UNSC Army soldiers stood up at attention as he arrived on the roof. The colonel looked around and saw several missile pods stationed around the two anti-aircraft batteries. The colonel knew that the missile pods might not be able to destroy a Seraph fighter, but they'll be able to take out the Banshees, Phantoms, and Vampires. The anti-aircraft batteries on the other hand, were a different story. The colonel and the other Spartans looked over the defenses of the city to make sure there weren't any breeches or any Covenant soldiers hiding and waiting to sabotage any of the defenses.

That night, five Spartans, three squads of UNSC Army soldiers, four squads of UNSC Marines, and two teams of ODST's were preparing for a mission on top of the wall. The two teams of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, aka ODST's, had six men in each team. The colonel looked at the five Spartans he selected for the mission, a majority of them were Spartan-IV's except for Jason. "Chief, stay alert; the Covenant may send in Zealots to try and take out the generators for the MAC guns on the wall and a few, if not all, of the anti-aircraft batteries," the colonel said to him.

"Sir, there's over a hundred anti-aircraft batteries all over this city, they couldn't possibly take them all out," Major Rhodes said.

"He's not talking about all the anti-aircraft batteries, just the ones that are protecting areas that will make good landing zones for Covenant drop ships," the chief replied. "Don't worry sir, you can count on us."

"I know I can chief, just make sure those generators are protected."

"Yes sir," the chief replied.

"We'll see you in a couple of hours Master Chief," Spartan-118 told him. They threw a ladder down and the colonel was the first one over the wall; he was waiting for the others to join him in No Man's Land as they all joined him at the bottom of the wall. They made their way across No Man's Land using destroyed Wraiths, Ghost, Prowlers, Locust, Choppers, and Revenants for cover as they made their way towards the Covenant encampment. They also saw plenty of dead Covenant soldiers, the wreaked hulls of enemy Banshees and Seraph fighters, along with several smoking hulls of enemy Phantoms and Sprits. "At least they don't have any Banshees in the air," an army soldier marked.

"They probably do at their encampment which is well beyond our anti-air umbrella," Colonel Horton (which is Spartan-118) replied. They made their way towards where the colonel saw the Elite general during the battle earlier. As they climbed the hill they saw a dozen Elites in blue armor and a single Elite in red armor who were not even watching where the UNSC forces were coming from. The Spartans and the other UNSC soldiers with them unsheathed their knives and prepared to assassinate the Elites. They approach the Elites from behind and assassinated all of them. They still had at least two miles to go to get to another hill before they had to crawl on their bellies to a position that overlooks where satellites had confirmed a large Covenant encampment. The colonel, Major Rhodes, and several others took out binoculars to recon the area from atop the first hill.

"Sir, is that a Spire?" A UNSC Marine corporal asked.

"Yup, that's a Spire alright, at least several miles away. They could be cloaking even more troops then we thought were out here. They don't just have one Spire; I count at least three, maybe four."

"What are you planning sir," an UNSC army trooper asked him.

"Tomorrow Lord Hood is planning to send an UNSC Frigate to make a dent into the Covenant invasion plans. What do you think would happen if we just destroy the Spires?"

"Sir, do you think they have anti-aircraft batteries sat up," Major Rhodes asked.

"Yes, so if we just take out the Spires and leave the anti-aircraft batteries sat up, then the frigate will be destroyed. So were going to take them all out tonight. Here's the plan, I'll lead a squad of Army soldiers along with a team of ODSTs, the other Spartans will lead the other teams to make sure our goals get accomplish. First the triple-A batteries must be neutralized and then the Spires."

"Yes sir," they replied. They start to head in different directions while the night was still young.

"Major Rhodes, your team will assist me," Colonel Heath-118 told him.

"Yes sir," Major Rhodes answered. They headed for the Spire that might be the hardest to take out. They passed through the Covenant energy cloaking shield. On the other side they see thousands of parked enemy vehicles consisting of Ghost, both variants of Wraiths, Banshees, Vampires, Choppers, Prowlers, Locust, Shadows, several parked Phantoms, Sprits, Revenants and even six Scarabs. The colonel kept an eye on his motion tractor and caught a glimpse of an Elite minor patrolling the area. He unsheathed his knife and came up behind the Elite and assassinated him. The ODSTs following behind him split up and assassinated the other Covenant troops guarding the motor pool, and then they got to work on setting explosives in and on the vehicles. Colonel Heath-118 made sure he planted explosives in each of the Scarabs, plus he assassinated several more Elite minors that were returning from a patrol. He took them out one at a time and they didn't even know what was happening. The colonel gave the ODSTs about forty-five minutes to place explosives in the vehicles where they wouldn't be spotted and then he sat a rally point in their HUDs. Once the ODSTs were present, they continued on towards the Tyrant. The colonel knows that each triple-A battery is probably defended by a company of Covenant troops, mostly Grunts and Jackals; as well as several Elites mounted on Ghosts and several pairs of Hunters were guarding the Tyrant. He remembered that Dr. Halsey told him that all the new MJOLNIR Armor system had active camouflage, armor lock, and hologram mounted on them. He activated the active camouflage and proceeded on towards the first triple-A battery. None of the Covenant infantry saw him, not even the Elite general watching the area saw him. The colonel came up behind the Elite General and assassinated him before he planted an explosive charge inside of the Tyrant. He did the same thing to the next Tyrant and then to a third. He reached where the ODST's were waiting for him and together they headed for the Spire. Once at the Spire he received a signal from the others informing him that they have gotten to their Spire without alerting any of the Covenant to their presents, but now quiet time is over so it was time to bring the pain. The colonel looked up and saw five Banshees patrolling the area. He had five of the Army soldiers use their Jackhammers to blow the enemy fighters out of the air. The five Banshees were destroyed with a missile left in the tube, so they fired the remaining missiles at the shade turrets guarding the Spire. They then threw fragmentation grenades into a large group of Grunts and Jackals that were moving in the opposite direction. A massive firefight followed and by the time they reach the top of the Spire, four UNSC Army soldiers and two ODST's were killed. He heard a report that a Spartan-IV was killed trying to take out a Zealot that was assigned to guard one of the Spires. The surviving soldiers under the colonel's command prepared for a counter-attack and the colonel informed the others to do the same.

On board a Covenant Destroyer an elite monitoring the ships over and near the Sahara Desert saw that the scanners had detected a human ship heading straight for the encampment. The human ship would reach the area before they could and there was no way to warn the Supercarrier on the ground, it would be totally defensive when the human ship arrived, but the Covenant destroyer would be able to avenge its fallen brothers if they get there in time.

The colonel and the others at each of the four Spires had held off several counter attacks and the sun had just started to rise when he pressed the button to detonate the AA batteries and override the towers shields and the cloak. Lord Hood sent in three Pelicans supported by Falcons, Longswords, and Hornets to evac the colonel and his men. The Longswords cleared a path through the enemy aircraft while the Hornets, Falcons and Pelicans headed on to the Spires. Colonel Heath-118 looked up and saw the UNSC ship appear. The UNSC ship fired its MAC guns at the Covenant Supercarrier. The Spartans and the UNSC soldiers that came with them boarded the Falcons and Pelicans and headed back to base. The colonel was on the last aircraft and so he pressed the final detonator, destroying the Spires and killing a lot of Covenant foot soldiers on the ground below. Onboard the Covenant Supercarrier they are desperately trying to save there ship, but the MAC rounds kept tearing through Supercarriers skeletal structure since they didn't have time to raise their shields. Once the Covenant Supercarrier was destroyed the UNSC ship started to head back to the base, but it didn't get far before the Covenant Destroyer hit the UNSC ship with their plasma weaponry. However, before the UNSC ship was destroyed, it managed to launch the escape pods along with several transports. The Pelicans and Falcons headed to base. The Covenant Destroyer didn't plan to get within range of the bases Super MAC guns, but they did. A single round from one of the bases Super MAC guns hit the Covenant Destroyer but didn't destroy it. The Covenant Destroyer tried to head back towards space, but their navigation systems were offline and they came within range of another UNSC base in India, were it finally got shot down and ended up crashing into the jungle. Lord Hood would later send a team to check if anything could be salvaged from the destroyed ship later. The Covenant ground troops watched as escape pods from the UNSC ship start to head for different parts of the desert an Elite general ordered that they kill every human that escaped from the ship in revenge for the deaths of their brothers on board their own ships. Covenant troops began boarding Phantoms and Spirits as others boarded Ghosts and Revenants as they made their way to kill the human survivors. On board one of the Pelicans, Lord Hood contacted Spartan-118 and informed him that the Covenant were moving towards the escape pods. Colonel Heath-118 ordered the Pelicans to head towards the first escape pod. The pilot told him that they were closing in on the first escape pod. They opened the Pelicans back door as the Pelican touched down and the colonel, along with the rest of the passengers, exited the Pelican and once the last soldier was off it headed back into the sky to provide air support. The colonel, Major Rhodes, and sixteen UNSC soldiers, along with three other Spartans, headed towards the first escape pod.

"Be advised colonel, a large force of Ghosts are heading right for the first escape pod," the pilot in one of the overhead Pelicans told him over the comms. Colonel Heath-118 turned to the others that were with him.

"Let's ambush those Ghosts." They all nodded their heads. Spartan-118 and the men with him got into position. A few minutes ticked by before Heath spotted the Ghosts. The colonel had a Jackhammer aimed right at the spot where he wanted to the ambush to take place. He waited for the first Ghost to reach the point and fired. He fired the second tube which struck the second Ghost, then a half dozen rounds from the other Jackhammer launchers smashed into the other Ghosts before they even knew what was happening and second volley followed the first, which destroyed even more Ghosts. The surviving Ghosts headed back towards their own lines. The colonel contacted several Hornets and Vultures in the sky and told them to finish off the Ghost, but warned them to watch out for enemy aircraft and AA batteries. Suddenly several UNSC soldiers were hit in the back by plasma fire. The Spartans and the other UNSC soldiers turned around and saw at least three dozen Covenant soldiers, most of them Grunts.

"How the hell did they sneak up on us like that," An Army soldier asked one of the Spartans.

"I don't know," the Spartan-IV, who the colonel thought was Spartan-A08 Brian, replied. The humans and the Covenant soldiers just stared at each other for a split second, just long enough for the colonel with his active camouflage engaged to come up behind the Elite officer and assassinate him. Still being invisible he shot the nearest Covenant troops before they could react. The other UNSC soldiers also opened up on the stunned Covenant soldiers. Only two more UNSC soldiers were killed by Elites plasma rifles before the last covenant fell. The skirmish with the Covenant foot soldiers only lasted about 58 seconds, maybe a minute, and afterwards they continued onto the first escape pod. They reached the first escape pod to find that the survivors in a firefight with Covenant foot soldiers. Jackals had their shields up in a wall formation with Elite minors and one Elite officer behind them. Colonel Heath-118 looked at the men he had with him and sees that two are armed with sniper rifles; they only have three Jackhammers left with two rockets for each launcher, and one Spartan Laser. The rest of the men, including the Spartans, are armed with other weapons including DMRs, Assault Rifles, Battle Rifles, Shotguns, SMGs and pistols. He told the snipers their job is to keep the Covenant heads pinned down once Spartan-A07 Lisa took out some of the Covenant with a charge shot from the Spartan Laser. Since they were up on a sandy ridge they have the advantage. Spartan-A07 charged up the Spartan Laser and fired it at the mass of Covenant soldiers firing upon the UNSC personal in the escape pod. The colonel watched with his helmets zoom as she got a multikill with the charge shot from the Spartan Laser. The Covenant were trying to figure out what happened but they were still clutching together so she fired again, resulting in more Covenant casualties. Several ODSTs under the command of Captain Rhodes have snuck behind the Covenant soldiers positions while Lisa kept them occupied with the Spartan Laser. They threw grenades into the Covenant ranks, and then they followed up with small arms fire. Every Covenant soldier was killed. Eight people came out of the escape pod, two of them were wounded. Four of the survivors were UNSC marines and the other four where navy personal. A Pelican arrived to take them back to Alamo 1 and the colonel and the others headed for the second escape pod.

"April, how many escape pods are there?" The colonel asked over a private com to her.

"Thirty-six pods and two down Pelicans," April replied. The colonel decided to divide his team into three groups. He told one group that they would have 15 escape pods to recover, he told the other group they had 15 escape pods and that him and the rest would get the rest of the pods and one of the downed Pelicans, then they would get to the last Pelican together. They split off once again and Captain Rhodes is still accompanying Spartan-118. It took several hours to reach all the escape pods and fight the Covenant troops that tried to stop them, but with some Grizzlies, Warthogs, and some air support they managed to stop the Covenant. The escape pods that the colonel and his team went to afterwards they found all but two still with survivors, and no Covenant arrived to stop them. The first Pelican was a different story all together. The survivors were already in a firefight with Covenant foot soldiers. Mostly Grunts and Jackals were present, but there were supported by thirty Elites. The colonel had only two Grizzly tanks and three Warthogs. He ordered the Grizzly's to fire on the Covenant and keep their heads pinned down while the Warthogs go into the fray and shield the UNSC soldier in the Pelicans from further attack, but just as the tanks started to get into position a Scarab appeared. "Well fuck," the colonel said. He asked April for a detail image of the Scarab and if any Covenant were supporting it. April brought up the image onto his HUD. He saw six Locust, three dozen Ghost and maybe a dozen Revenants supporting the Scarab, along with several Shadows. He also saw Banshees flying around the Scarab.

"What are we going to do sir?" Major Rhodes asked him.

"We're going to take that Scarab out," Colonel Heath-118 replied.

"How are we going to do that," a UNSC Army soldier asked him.

"April, how far is the Scarab from the crash site?"

"Forty-six minutes out colonel," April responded.

"Can you send some Longswords to keep the Scarab busy for a few minutes to gives us some time to lay a trap for them?"

"Affirmative colonel, we'll give you whatever you need," Lord Hood told him.

"Thank you admiral," Colonel Heath-118 replied. The colonel watched as six Longswords and three Hornets headed to engage the enemy Scarab. Colonel Heath-118 talked the other officers with him. "Alright, we need another plan. Do any of you have any suggestions or a plan?"

"Sir, we thought you might have a plan." the others replied.

"As a matter a fact, I do," he answered. "I want the tanks to focus on the Scarab while the infantry focus on the Covenant vehicles and ground troops. I want a team to get the laser designator out and laser targets for a missile strike. Let's get to work." The tanks headed towards a vantage point from which they could fire upon the Scarab but couldn't be fired upon. UNSC marines equipped with the new M25 Rocket Launcher, which fires six rockets instead of two, head to their assigned position along with a Spartan-IV. On the colonel's signal, the fighters returned to base. Once the Scarab got within range, the colonel gave the order to fire. The tanks fired on the Scarab's legs as the Warthogs rode in to deal with the Covenant infantry. Each of the Covenant Vehicles was targeted by the sniper and rocket teams. Major Rhodes held the laser designator on the Scarab and missiles from base destroyed the Scarab. The destroyed Scarab landed on several Covenant vehicles that were trying to escape. The remaining tanks and Warthogs dealt with the surviving Covenant. After the last Covenant soldier was killed, Pelicans and Falcons arrived to transport the surviving soldiers and vehicles back to the base. The colonel and the rest were glad to get some chow and get a few hours of sleep before the Covenant launched another attack on the city/base.

A day later, twenty-seven Pelicans arrived from Egypt to help reinforce the base/city. Lord Torrance Hood ordered every male from 18-56 to be armed and sent to defend the city/base. Many of the civilians of Alamo 1 were ready to do their part to stop the Covenant and were glad to be drafted into service. Colonel Heath-118 estimated that the UNSC forces in the city of Alamo 1 had numbers close to maybe a million men and women against millions of Covenant, plus enough firepower in space to turn the entire Earth into glass. Last night they stopped a group of Covenant Special OPS teams from taking out some of the bases defenses. He was thankful that no Spartans were killed, but they did have twenty-five casualties. Fifteen killed and the rest wounded. The Covenant launched their second assault on the city about 0800 hours. The Covenant hoped to launched a surprise attack on the base/city, but April and Cortana warned the base defenders and they had a big surprise waiting for the Covies. The naval guns pounded the advancing Covenant troops before the tanks, artillery, and other mounted weapons in the UNSC arsenal opened up. Several hundred Grunts, Jackals, Skirmishers, Brutes, Hunters, and even Elites were killed, but they kept coming. Once again the Elite General sent in Banshees, Vampires, and Seraph fighters to support the attack, but once again they were being blown out of the sky by the base/city ant-air defenses. A Scorpion blew a Brute in half before killing four more brutes along with sixteen Grunts and Jackals before the tank was destroyed from multiple hits from a Wraith tanks plasma mortar. Covenant troops were still taking heavy losses, but they managed to get onto the wall before being cut down, even though they killed some of the defenders. Plenty of Revenants, Wraiths, Choppers, and Specters were destroyed by the combined firepower of all the defending tanks, artillery, naval guns, artillery pieces, Rhinos, Cobras, and anti-armor launchers. The Elite in charge of the attack on the base ordered his vehicles to retreat. The Elite General sent in fresh troops, he knew that if they could get enough troops underneath the wall then they would be able to push over the wall with sheer numbers. As the Covenant Infantry approached the wall, they experienced heavy causalities, some even hit mines. A Spartan-IV was wounded and was ordered back to the medical area. The Covenant began throwing ropes and using ladders along with the grav lifts to get atop the wall. Most of the Grunts, Elites and Brutes were killed as they scaled the walls, but the defenders had to expose themselves to the Covenant on the ground, so the Covenant were inflicting casualties on the humans too. Colonel Heath-118 ordered them to throw grenades down into the mass of Covenant forces below the walls. Another tank blew a Brute in half. Four Brute minors got into a shell crater, but were blown to pieces when a mortar shell landed in the shell crater. More Brutes were cut to shreds by tanks, artillery, mortars, and small arms fire from the defenders on the walls of the city until they got right up against the wall where the vehicles couldn't fire on them and the UNSC soldiers on the wall couldn't fire on them unless they exposed themselves to Covenant plasma fire, but the UNSC could still drop grenades on them, which they did, and they killed plenty of Covenant soldiers with them.

So far the Elite General had been hesitant on using vehicles again, but he finally decided to send in two hundred Wraiths to support the attack. Most of the Wraiths were destroyed before they could get into range. The Wraith tanks fired their plasma mortars at the city walls; some of the rounds landed outside of the walls resulting in more Covenant casualties, some landed behind the wall and some landed on the walls, killing UNSC soldiers and destroying some of the vehicles and artillery that were placed on the walls. The plasma rounds also killed some of the Covenant forces that managed to get onto the wall. The crews of the vehicles were pulled free and then helped to defender the city without their armor. Some of the plasma mortars landed behind the walls got lucky and hit the bunkers and artillery. Colonel Heath-118 killed many of the Covenant soldiers heading for the wall with his kills consisting of Elites, Grunts, Jackals, Skirmishers, Drones, and Brutes with no power armor. An Elite came at him firing his plasma repeater, but the colonel fired his assault rifle at the attacking Elite. The Elites shields failed and then he was eliminated by a hell of lead; two more Elites came at the colonel, but they too met their fate at the hands of the colonel's assault rifle. He threw a fragmentation grenade at a bunch of Jackals that were heading towards one of the bunkers outside of the walls still maned by UNSC soldiers. He then picked up a Jackhammer and fired it at several Hunters coming towards the bunker. He then radioed the men in the bunker to retreat back into the city. They left the safety of the bunker through an underground entrance. Several Skirmishers with Needle Rifles jumped on top of the bunker's roof and began firing on the defenders, killing several UNSC soldier with headshots. The UNSC soldiers armed with DMRs and Battle Rifles began shooting the Skirmishers. The colonel shot one of the Skirmishers that tried to jump onto the battlements with his MA5D Assault Rifle. He then killed several more Skirmishers and they fall back over the wall and he also killed an Elite warrior that had just knocked several UNSC soldiers unconscious. Medics hurried to revive the unconscious soldiers. One medic was killed while he was helping a wounded UNSC Army soldier, but Colonel Heath-118 killed the Elite warrior. The Brute Chieftain looked at the Elite General in charge of the attack after he saw many of his pack brothers' were being killed by the defenders. . "You've killed a lot of my troops again, and just because of our betrayal in the last war."

"Yes, this will teach you to never betray us again," the Elite General replied before ordering all of his troop's forwards, except for the Ghosts. Wraith tanks were approaching the base, but several of the tanks are destroyed by the heavy weapon emplacements and the vehicles on the walls. One of the smaller MAC Guns destroyed a column of covenant troops starting with some Jackals who were in a shield wall formation, and then behind them a battalion size force of Grunts with their Sangheili leaders. Only a small number of them survived the salvo. Colonel Heath fired his MA5D assault rifle at a whole bunch of Grunts and Elite Minors heading for the wall. Several Elite Minors threw ropes onto the walls and began to climb, but Heath and other UNSC soldiers killed most of the Covenant soldiers as they began to climb the wall by cutting the ropes. A marine is killed by a plasma bolt to the head and he fell off the wall with a frag grenade in his hand. The grenade exploded, killing several Covenant foot soldiers and wounded several others. Three Elite Minors along with an Elite officer that had just arrived on the battlements rushed towards several marines that were wounded from a plasma mortars blast from a Wraith tank just before it was destroyed. The UNSC marines were all on the ground beside a destroyed Rhino. Spartan-H058 Adam, a Spartan-IV armed with the MA5B, rushed to defend the wounded marines. He fired his MA5B at the first Elite Minor, the Elite's shields crackling and failed and then the rounds tore through the Elite, killing him. Several Grunts came charging at him and he killed them too. He reloaded his assault rifle as the second Elite came right at him; He killed him as well. The third Elite fired his plasma rifle at Adam, but the plasma bolts only hit his shields, Adam fired the rest of the magazine in his assault rifle at the Elite Minor. The Elite Officer was the last to be dispatched, Adam using his pistol to finish him off. It took the entire magazine to finally kill the Elite Officer though. Once the Elites were taken care of, five UNSC marines helped the wounded marines off the battlements and onto an awaiting transport Warthog for the trip to the hospital. Once the wounded marines were on the Transport Warthog the marines return to the battlements. Several UNSC soldiers, a mix of army and Marine Corps, were blown off the battlements from the impact of a plasma mortar from one of the Wraith tanks that were still out there. Several of the smaller MAC guns destroyed several of the wraiths that strayed too close. The colonel just finished dispatching sixteen Drones when he heard April's voice in his helmet speakers.

"Colonel, I'm going to power down the MAC guns for a while, we're having some trouble with them," April told Colonel Heath-118 over his private comms as the MAC guns go offline. The Covenant Cruiser that was well outside of all the MAC guns effective ranges launched a hundred Phantoms and Sprits. The naval guns were still pounding away at the Covenant infantry and armor within range. Most of the Covenant armor begin to retreat, but were still taking heavy losses. Some of the enemy vehicles are disabled by a new EMP shell, so they were sitting ducks for HE (high explosive) and AP (armor piercing) shells. Banshees and Seraph fighters had been trying to take them out, but they keep getting shot out of the sky by the base/city anti-air defenses. The Phantoms unloaded the Covenant troops and armor they were carrying at the Covenant encampment. The Master Chief came up behind an Elite in Gold Armor and assassinated him, and then kill at least twenty Grunts and two Jackals with head shots from his BR55 Battle Rifle. He also killed several Elite Officers and two Elite Minors. The chief and an ODST dispatched a dozen of Covenant troops outside of the cities/base walls with headshots. United Nations Space Command soldiers are fighting hard against the Covenant infantry on the battlements and the Covenant approaching the city/base walls and they had been inflecting heavy casualties on the Covenant. However, the Covenant had managed to kill many of the UNSC soldiers, but the UNSC still had several things working for them. They had the city walls, which are hard to scale, the Spartans and all kinds of weaponry. Colonel Heath-118 shot an Elite Minor as he was flying through the air of a grav lift. The Elite fell on the other side of the battlements, dead. The colonel then dropped a grenade onto the grav lift, killing several Grunts and Jackals that were waiting for the signal to use it. Heath didn't see the Elite with an ignited energy sword coming up behind him since he was busy shooting Covenant troops. The chief saw the Elite fixing the strike the colonel and came up behind the Covenant soldier and snapped his neck. "Thanks chief," the colonel told him. The chief gave him a thumbs up. The Elite general ordered a retreat of his forces for the third time since they had begun their attack. This time the UNSC forces held their fire to conserve their ammunition. A majority of the Covenant on the battlements are Grunts and Jackals, with the exception of about six dozen Elites and thirty two Brutes. The UNSC soldiers finished off any Covenant soldier left on the battlements. Several of the Covenant troops still managed to jump off the battlements, but they broke their legs due to the long fall, and some even killed themselves. Heath looked around and saw plenty of dead Covenant soldiers, both inside and outside of the UNSC base. Most of the Triple-A batteries were still functional, along with the naval and MAC guns. Only four of the one hundred-ninety towers holding both the naval guns and automated anti-personal turrets were destroyed. Only twenty AA batteries that protect both the MAC Guns and the towers were destroyed. Three Scorpions, six Rhinos, five Cobras, 4 Wolverines, and 2 Grizzlies were destroyed by a combination of Covenant armor and air support. He saw that one of the smaller MAC Guns had been destroyed by some Seraphs and Banshees committing suicide. A private then came up to him. "Sir, Lord Hood would like an update."

"Thank you private," Heath responds. "Chief, let's go have a word with the admiral." They head back, leaving Major Rhodes in charge. They gave their report to Lord Hood and the base commander then they returned to the city walls where Major Rhodes told them that it's been quiet so far. Colonel Heath ordered that ammo be given out to all soldiers and to make sure that all the anti-air, anti-vehicle, and anti-personal defenses were refilled with ammunition because he believed that the next attack would be the biggest one they've seen. At the Covenant camp, Covenant infantry had been arriving in mass over the last several hours. They had brought more vehicles with them, including twenty Scarabs and sixty Locusts. The Elite General hoped that the forces would be enough to break through the city/base walls and take the city. He had nearly thirty thousand Covenant soldiers consisting of Elites, Brutes, Jackals, Skirmishers, Grunts, Hunters, and Drones to support his vehicles. The Elite general decided that he was not going to use his air power since their defenses were too great, therefore he's going to send in every vehicle he has to destroy several sections in the wall so his troops can enter the city/base and take out their air defenses from the ground since a majority of the city/base air defenses can only fire on air units and not infantry. As soon as the air defenses are down Phantoms and Sprit dropships can land reinforcements inside of the base and Seraph and Banshee fighters can provide air cover for his infantry. His forces are still arriving, but with his forces current strength they wouldn't be able to breech the UNSC defenses, so he chose to delay the attack for another two hours. Master Chief John-117 and Colonel Heath-118 were making their rounds, making sure that all the UNSC soldiers on the walls are ready for the next attack and ammo is passed out to the soldiers that need it. Many UNSC soldiers were wounded, but were still able to fight, and they'll keep fighting until death takes them.

* * *

 **Author Note: I like to thank those who have taken the time to read this story. I also like to think my beta-reader for his help fixing the story to make it even better.**


	12. Chapter 12: Battle of Alamo 1 Part 4

First Attack on Alamo 1

Part 4

The attack came without warning as somehow the bases sensors that detected approaching hostiles were temporary offline. A majority of the Covenant vehicles managed to get closer to the human base before they started to take incoming fire from the defenders. Specters, Revenants, and Wraiths all fired their plasma blasts at and even over the walls. John saw a dozen Scarabs accompanied by several Locusts heading straight for the base. He radioed the men operating the heavy guns to switch fire to the Scarabs. However, the Wraiths and Locusts were sacrificing themselves to protect the 12 Scarabs. Two Scarabs were destroyed by the bases regular MAC guns; another was destroyed by the other heavy guns. The Elite General was not allowing his infantry to enter the battle as he was waiting for the vehicles to create several breach points in the walls. Many Covenant vehicles were destroyed, adding to the others out in No Man's Land, making it more difficult for the other vehicles to maneuver through. They also had to maneuver through and around piles of dead Covenant infantrymen that had piled up as they attacked the humans over the last three days. One Scarab managed to breach a section of the wall before it was destroyed. A Spartan-IV survived the explosion, along with several Covenant soldiers, and he dispatched them quickly with the help of Lucy. The Spartan-IV returned to the base and began waiting for the Elite General to send in his forces. Colonel Heath-118 and Master Chief John-117 heard over the radio that several more breach points had appeared in the walls, but the Scarabs that had caused the breach points had been neutralized. The remaining Scarabs were forced to retreat once more MAC guns began to target them and their escorts had been neutralized. Several Revenants, Specters, and Wraiths managed to get through the defenses and sat up a small beachhead on the other side of the breach points, but UNSC forces were fixing to drive them back. The Elite general ordered three hundred Ghosts, two hundred Choppers, and four hundred Prowlers to head towards the breach points. Most of the Ghosts, Choppers, and Prowlers were destroyed as they made their way to the breach points. Warthogs, Scorpions and Grizzlies were waiting for them on the other side of the wall. The destroyed enemy vehicles blocked the breach points for the UNSC from further attacks by Covenant armor. Several Elites and Brutes dismounted from their vehicles and started to climb over the rubble, but UNSC soldiers were waiting for them and they eliminated every Covenant soldier that tried to climb over the rubble. Once the Elite General realized that the base defenders had countered his attack he ordered his armor to retreat once more. He would wait until nightfall to launch another attack against the UNSC base/city. The soldiers of the United Nations Space Command reloaded their weapons and prepared for the next Covenant attack. The wounded UNSC personal and the civilians that were helping with the defense were being taken to the hospitals and the dead UNSC troopers were being sent to the morgue, even the dead Covenant were being cleared away. The destroyed UNSC vehicles were being taking to the base/city junk yard. UNSC soldiers found several wounded Covenant soldiers among the vehicles, as well as dead UNSC and Covenant soldiers. Colonel Heath-118 told them to take the wounded covenant to the hospitals to get treated as well and to guard them at all times. The breach points were being filled up by just dirt and quick drying concrete. Grizzly tanks were placed at the breach points to help guard them. Several sandbag bunkers were also constructed to aid the Grizzly tanks.

During that night, several teams of Zealots, along with Brute Stalkers and Elite Spec-Ops teams entered Alamo 1 through areas in the walls that didn't have to many UNSC soldiers patrolling them since a majority of them were sleeping. The Covenant infiltration teams' job is to disable the MAC guns and all the automated anti-air, anti-armor, and anti-personal defenses in the heart of Alamo 1. Once they accomplished their objectives they're to send a signal letting the Elite General know that his forces can attack. The Covenant infiltration team had to be careful making their way through Alamo 1 city streets because Warthogs were busy going down the streets, and they had to watch out for UNSC soldiers patrolling the streets. At one point they thought they were spotted by an UNSC soldier and a Zealot was just fixing to shoot the UNSC marine, but he ended up walking away. The Covenant Infiltration teams headed to their assign task. The Brute Stalkers along with a contingent of Grunt Spec Ops were assigned to take out a defensive tower. However, they managed to alert UNSC forces to their presences. The UNSC soldiers, along with Spartan-IIs, IIIs, and IVs took care of the Brute Stalkers and their contingent of Grunts; they also stopped a group of Sangheili Spec-Ops teams. The Zealots weren't even aware that the other Covenant infiltration teams have been stopped by UNSC soldiers. Colonel Heath-118, Master Chief John-117, and Major Tristan Rhodes headed back to the headquarters just in case any Covenant Infiltration teams had entered the headquarters. The Zealots eliminated a UNSC security team at one of the security stations. Heath and John entered the base, where they gathering several UNSC marines and Army soldiers to accompany them to the control room. The Zealots mission was to eliminate the UNSC commanders and destroy the bases/city defenses so their forces could search the city for Forerunner artifacts and enslave the people once the UNSC were finally defeated. The colonel and his men saw the dead MPs in the security station; this caused them to hurry towards the control center hoping that they would reach it before the Covenant. The Zealots entered the control room and found it mostly deserted, except for five people, two of them Spartans, along with a small detachment of UNSC Military Police. April shouted a warning to the Spartans over their private coms just before the Zealots opened fire with Plasma Repeaters, Plasma Rifles, Concussion Rifles, and Plasma pistols; the Spartans stepped in front of the Covenant energy weapons, shielding Lord Hood and several others. The Spartans returned fire and a Zealot appeared on the control room's floor, dead. Several more Zealots followed the first, along with several MPs. It took only a couple of minutes before all of the Zealots were neutralized.

The Elite General in charge of the attack on Alamo 1 decided that this time he was going to personally lead his troops in the attack on the humans' base. The Covenant ground troops consisted of Elites, Brutes, Hunters, Jackals, Skirmishers, though it was mostly Grunts. The Elite General was waiting for additional troops to arrive before trying to gain entrance to the human base/city. The Elite general wanted the best landing spots for his Phantoms, Sprits, and cruiser so that they could send troops into the city via gravity lifts, but he knows that the best areas are the most protected areas within the human city.

Come sunrise and still no Covenant attack. Hours passed and still no attack. Many of the United Nations Space Command soldiers were getting inpatient waiting for the attack to happen so their commanders ordered them to relax and that April and Cortana would warn them when the Covenant finally decided to attack. Even more time passed before the Covenant finally launched their attack on the city. They sent in Scarabs and Locust supported by Ghosts to support the infantry. The UNSC Marines and Army soldiers inside of the bunkers behind the walls were firing at the Covenant as they entered through the breach points. Grunts, Jackals, Skirmishers, Brutes and low ranking Elites charged at the bunkers; the UNSC marines and Army soldiers inflected heavy casualties on the attacking Covenant infantry, but they kept on coming. A heavy turret turned its cannon onto a Wraith tank that just finished taking out a Scorpion and fired; The Wraith tank didn't stand a chance. The Ghosts arrived and began firing their plasma cannons, but sitting in a solid line one behind the other, the UNSC tanks were beginning to take their toll on the Ghosts until they received a message from the UNSC soldiers on the battlements that Covenant infantry have made it onto the battlements and towers and to be advised that several of the triple-A batteries would be offline. The colonel and the Master Chief ran towards the breach points while leading several other Spartans to help defend the area. Major Rhodes and several of his men had managed to hold several of the towers that the Covenant infantry tried to take offline. Heath looked at John with a look that said, 'I figured out the Covenant plan of attack'. Explosions ripped through sections of the wall, including the section that the Master Chief and the colonel were located on. The Master Chief was thrown off the wall and onto the ground below and had rubble landing all around him. The colonel was thrown back towards one of the towers. Almost eight towers were destroyed in the explosions, including two regular MAC guns and one of the Super MAC's. Several Grunts that arrived on the wall afterwards hurried to finish off the stunned colonel, but Major Rhodes and Lieutenant Jack neutralized the Grunts and the Elite that had followed after the Grunts. Major Rhodes and Lieutenant Jack then helped the colonel to get back onto his feet. He gave them a nod of thanks.

Colonel Heath-118 fired his assault rifle from the hip at an attacking Brute that was coming up behind them. The Brute fell off the wall and onto a Grunt firing at a group of UNSC marines behind some sandbags. Colonel Heath tried contacting the Master Chief and at first he couldn't get a response from him. Spartan-058 Linda, who was posted on the roof top of a building across the field and in the city, had the chief's back. She ended up firing three clips into any Covenant that tried to get through the breach points. A Grizzly tank pulled up alongside the chief's unconscious body and fired a canister shot into the Covenant that were advancing towards the breach. Several other vehicles arrived to help plug up the breach. The Covenant started to focus their attention on the areas in which they had created breach points. Another Scarab was destroyed when a MAC round hit it head on, causing secondary explosions throughout the vehicle. Linda shot an Elite Minor that had appeared behind the colonel. Several ODSTs shot several Grunts with their M7 submachine guns. One of the ODSTs, a medic, went up to the Master Chief and gave the chief a wake up stem. The Master Chief got up a second later. The surviving heavy gun towers were still infecting heavy casualties on the Covenant coming down from their staging areas. Once again Banshees were sent in, but they were still being knocked out of the sky by the triple-A batteries once they got in range. However, the triple-A batteries were starting to run low on ammo and many of them, especially the ones on the walls where the Covenant have been attacking the most, would soon be offline. The Covenant had launched several attacks on several of the towers, but so far the UNSC soldiers were still holding onto them. Piles of dead Covenant were piled up so high that the UNSC soldiers had to clear a path just so they could see what was happening around them. The Master Chief saw several Elites, supported by Grunts and Jackals, setting up an antimatter charge, or something similar, at the base of a tower. The chief gathered ten UNSC marines; a couple of army soldiers also volunteered to help him. They threw fragmentation grenades into their mist. A majority of the Elites survived the explosions, but the Grunts and Jackals weren't so lucky. The Master Chief and the UNSC soldiers that accompanied him finish the Elites off with full automatic fire and some semi-automatic fire from the DMRs.

Master Chief John-117 relayed to all UNSC forces that the Covenant could be using small teams to plant explosives to take out the towers, leaving the walls unprotected. Another tower was destroyed, and with it several of the naval guns and triple-A batteries, which created a breach in the cities/base air and ground defense. April detected another wave of Phantoms and Sprits, supported by Banshees, on approach to the base/city and with majority of the anti-aircraft batteries destroyed in the areas that the Covenant were attacking, they won't be able to keep the Covenant dropships from landing. Colonel Heath ordered the UNSC Mobile Anti-Air Unit (MAAU) to be mobilized. The UNSC MAAU is a specialized unit of Army soldiers and Marines equipped with portable SAM turrets on vehicles, which were very effective against Banshees, Phantoms, and Sprits. They used updated versions of the Wolverine, equipped with duel chain guns to deal with infantry as well as lightly armored vehicles. The Elite General knows that there are multiple breach points along the wall, but the area with the most breached points was near the gate, and that's what he wanted to push the hardest. However, the covenant would have to go through Colonel Heath, the Master Chief, and several other Spartans to take the area. Colonel Heath knows that if more of the walls defensives go down then the Covenant could send in more dropships and fighters. He shot and killed a team of Grunts coming right at him. The fighters and dropships suddenly turned around and headed back to their staging area; their troops also turned around and headed back, so Heath ordered all UNSC forces to stop firing. A MAC gun fired one last time and destroyed another Scarab as a UNSC marine lieutenant comes up to him.

"Sir, why were they retreating?" She asked.

"You're guess is as good as mine," Heath answered.

"I hope they don't come back again," she said. Heath didn't feel like responding because he knows that the Covenant doesn't quit that easy. He knew that the Elite general was trying to figure out the best way to attack the city. The area outside of Alamo 1 is litter with bodies and of the remains of destroyed Covenant vehicles. He looked around and saw plenty of dead Covenant foot soldiers within the base itself. He also saw marines lying up against the concrete cover that's on top of the battlements, some with energy sword through their chest and with the Elite that killed them lying over their legs. He knew that it would take time for the casualties list to reach him, the wounded that were too badly wounded were being sent to the hospitals while the rest were being patch up by the medics. Master Chief John-117 was looking at the breach points trying to find the best way to keep the Covenant out of the base. An hour later he reported back to his commanding officer.

"What do you have to report Master Chief?"

"There are plenty of breach points and I don't know how we're going to keep the Covenant from entering the city the next time they attack." Elsewhere, Marines and army soldiers were busy reloading the anti-air batteries.

Back at the Covenant encampment, the Elite General in charge of the attack on Alamo 1 was getting orders from the Elite in charge of the entire operation. He gave them orders for them to leave the base alone. "Why were we leaving this human base intact?"

"The base will fall in time, especially once all the Demons are neutralized. The High Prophet knew that with the invasion the humans would send their Demons to protect the cities, and one by one the Demons will perish. Now Evac your troops general, this battle is over." The hologram went dead. The Elite General gave the order to break camp and head back to the ships. A Covenant Cruiser landed well outside of the human's anti-air defenses, except for the Super MAC, but they didn't open fire. As soon as the Covenant Cruiser rose from the sand and headed back into space, the UNSC personal and the civilians cheered. They had won a huge battle against the Covenant, but the war is far from over and Spartan-118 believed that the New Covenant would not stop until they're all either enslaved or wiped out completely, either way the Second Human-Covenant War will be long and costly war.


	13. Chapter 13:Mission 1 of GA Company

**Author Note: This chapter takes place during the same time as The Battle of Alamo 1 and Battle of London. The next two chapters will follow Georgia Company a specialized group of UNSC Special Forces which consist of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, and Army Special Forces as they protect Louisiana, Georgia, and South Carolina from the Covenant.**

 **I like to think my beta-reader thearizona for his help and also for allowing me to use some of his characters from his story Brother in Arms. If you haven't read it you should check it out it's a great story. It will tell you more about Carnage Squad and about their first contact with the Spartans notably Zeus Squad. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Please remember to review, favorite, and follow. Thank you for your support.**

* * *

 **Georgia Company: (171 Men and Woman)**

 **Senior Commanders:**

 **Commanding Officer: Lieutenant Colonel William Thompson (Former Spartan-III which survived Reach). (Arcadia) UNSC Army: MA5D Assault Rifle, M392 DMR, M6D Magnum**

 **Executive Officer: Major Rebekah-099 (Reach) Spartan: SBK-100D-35AP Sniper Rifle, M489 Assault Rifle M6D Magnum**

 **2nd Executive Officer: Captain Lauren Whitfield (Reach) Spartan (formally from the ODST a graduate from the third class of Spartan-IVs): M489, Shattergun (Double-barrel-shotgun), M6 Magnum**

 **Supply Officer: Captain Roy Peebles (American) Army: M489, M6D Magnum**

 **Carnage Platoon: (41 soldiers which includes 4 Phoenix Pilots)**

 **First Lieutenant Mark Meyer (German) Army, Platoon XO: M392 DMR, M6D Magnum Pistol**

 **Phoenix Pilots: (4)**

 **Warrant Officer "Wild Bill" Handcock (American) Army (Phoenix Pilot): M7 SMG, M6C Magnum Pistol**

 **Warrant Officer Doubles (Draco 111) ODST (Phoenix Pilot): M7 SMG, M90 CAWS**

 **Warrant Officer Christopher Dabney (American) ODST (Phoenix Pilot): M7 SMG, M6G Magnum Pistol**

 **Warrant Officer Emily Collins (American) Army (Phoenix Pilot): 2 M6G Magnum Pistols, M90 CAWS.**

 **Alpha Squad: (Codename Copperhead) (9)**

 **Sergeant Major Jack "Gunny" Price (British) ODST: BR55 HB SR, M7 SMG; squad XO;**

 **Master Sergeant Dmitri "Staff" Vasilyev (Russian) ODST: M247H, M90 CAWS; heavy weapons,**

 **Gunnery Sergeant George "Wolf" Anders (American) ODST: SRS99D-S2 AM, MA5C; Sniper;**

 **Staff Sergeant Milton (Draco III) Army: MA37, DMR, and M6S Magnum**

 **PVT Brian Kersey (American) ODST Medic: BR55 Battle Rifle, M6S Magnum**

 **PVT Tripp Meyers (German) Army Demolition Expert cross train with heavy weapons: M489, M6 Magnum, M29 Rocket Launcher**

 **PVT Becky Lafarge (French) ODST Heavy Weapon Specialist: M739 Light Machine-Gun, Asymmetric Recoilless Carbine-920, M363 Remote Projectile Detonator, M6 Magnum**

 **PVT Georgina Nanu (Mexican) ODST: BR85 Battle Rifle, AA-13 Shotgun, M6S Magnum**

 **PVT Steve McFall (American) ODST Heavy Weapon Specialist. M247H, Rocket Launcher**

 **Bravo Squad: (8) Codename Black Moomba**

 **Sergeant Vonya Campbell (Africa) ODST: MA5B Assault Rifle, DMR, and M6 Magnum**

 **Corporal Thad Bullcock (British) Army medic: MA5K, Shattergun**

 **Corporal Devin Bullcock (British) Army: DMR, M90 Shotgun**

 **Corporal William Boykin (American) ODST: M739 LMG, M29 Rocket Launcher.**

 **Corporal Kevin Campbell (African) ODST: M739 LMG, Spartan Laser**

 **Corporal Jacolbey Carlos (African) ODST: MA5D, M6s Magnum, two M7S SMGs**

 **PFC Reggie Dean (American) Army: M489, M29 Rocket Launcher**

 **PFC Accie Collins (British) Army: MA37 AR, DMR,**

 **Charlie Squad: (8) Codename Viper**

 **Sergeant Kat O'Donaild (American) ODST: MA5D AR, BR55 BR.**

 **Lance Corporal Jamie Creed (American) ODST medic: BR55, M6 magnum**

 **Lance Corporal Ivan (Russian) ODST: MA5B AR, BR5**

 **Lance Corporal Iran Chekov (Russian) Army: MA37, DMR**

 **Delta Squad: (8)**

 **Sergeant Albas VON Wolfsbane (German) Army: M489, 2 M7 SMGs**

 **PFC Linnell Davis (African-American) Army: M489, M6 Magnum**

 **PFC James Davis (African-American) Army: MA37 AR, DMR, M6 Magnum**

 **Echo Squad: (4)**

 **Sergeant Joe Armstrong (American) Army: MA37, DMR, and M6 Magnum**

 **Lance Corporal Charles Davenport (American) Army medic: DMR and M6 Magnum**

* * *

 **Georgia Company Mission 1**

Ambush at a Coms Relay

 **March 7-April 10, 2568**

 **Location: URNA (United Republic of North America)**

 **0900 hours EST (Eastern Standard Time)**

New Augusta is located in a valley in the Great Smokey Mountains. The Covenant haven't risked sending ships into the United Republic of North America so far. Fort Atlanta is located 19 miles from New Augusta. Fort Atlanta is a UNSC/URNA base; its outside is similar to NORAD which the UNSC still uses to help defend the URNA from attack. After the First Human-Covenant War the UNSC allowed countries on Earth to maintain its own Armed Forces which would assist the UNSC with Earth Defense. The base defenses include four Scythes Anti-Aircraft Guns and a SAM Launcher. The interior of the base comprised of twenty-one levels and each could be sealed by heavy blast doors. The base also has a MAC gun for dealing with any Covenant ships that threaten New Augusta or Fort Atlanta. The MAC is located inside of the mountain and has an auto-loader for the rounds.

In the Fort Atlanta Special Forces barracks and Carnage Platoon of Georgia Company is gearing up for a mission. Georgia Company is a combination of ODST's and Army Special Forces and they are commanded by Lieutenant Colonel William Thompson who used to be a Spartan-III but retired after the Human-Covenant War and then rejoined the UNSC Army afterwards. Two Spartans are also apart of Georgia Company, Rebekah-099 and Spartan Whitfield. Two other platoons make up Georgia Company; they are Bloodshed, and Massacre Platoon's. Lieutenant Colonel Thompson recruited soldiers who weren't scared to get their hands dirty in a fight and would do whatever it took to complete their objective. Georgia Company earned a reputation during the Post-War years fighting the Covenant Remnant on several worlds, one of which was Harvest. There are no FNG's in Georgia Company as selection is very strict. Massacre and Bloodshed Platoons are in Charleston. Lieutenant Colonel Thomson, Captain Whitfield and their supply officer Captain Peebles are also in the town for a meeting with the UNSC East Coast Command. Captain Rebekah-099 is the highest ranking officer still at Fort Atlanta. Georgia Company's home base is in Fort Old Hickory, Louisiana, which is not too far away from New Orleans. It isn't the New Orleans most people know, it's more of a Ghost Town as most of the civilians that used to live their moved to other cities. Each platoon has their own Phoenix Utility Helicopter for transport. The Phoenix is an updated version of the Falcon that can carry eight passengers, plus two door gunners a single pilot. The Phoenix can be used as a transport, attack, or support.

Carnage Platoon had been enjoying a few days of R&R, courtesy of Lieutenant Colonel Thomson after they stopped a Covenant Raiding Party in Key West Florida. They lost both their LT and one of their Phoenix pilots during the mission, both were being replaced. UNSC News had been reported that the UNSC had won a major victory at Alamo 1. However, the Covenant forces were still attacking London, England. No more Covenant had been spotted in North America but fighting was still going on in South America. Sergeant Major Jack Price, Master Sergeant Dmitri Vasilyev, and Gunnery Sergeant George Anders, all veterans of the first Human-Covenant War, were on their way to the locker rooms to brief their men on the mission that command had just sent them since their new LT hasn't showed up yet, which of course was pissing off all the NCO's. Along the way Jack and Dmitri were talking.

"It's good to be working with Rebekah again, what's her number again?" Jack asked his best friend.

"Her phone number or her service number?" Dmitri jokingly replied.

"You know what number I'm talking about." Jack said dryly.

"Her number is 099," he replied. "Though I wonder what happen to the rest of Zeus Squad."

"Heath-118 is now a colonel and is the leader of the Spartans, other them him I don't know." Jack replied. They soon arrived at the barracks locker room for the briefing.

"Ok you apes, command have sent us a mission so I hope you all enjoyed your R&R because it's probably going to be the last one you get in a long time. As you know the Covenant have arrived back on Earth, taking over several cities in Africa and South America. We will not let that happen to the URNA. Six hours ago one of our communication relays went dark from an unknown reason, our orders are to investigate."

"Sergeant Major, do you think it could be the Covenant?" Private Georgina Nanu asked.

"We don't know but I want all of you to treat it as if it is the Covenant. We don't have time to run a sim as command wants us there ASAP as this communication relay is important to Eastern Command," he told them. "Dimitri, take over."

"Alpha Squad you're in the first helo, Bravo Squad second Helo, Charlie Squad is in the third helo, Delta squad will get the fourth helo. Echo squad will remain here; you'll be our reserves if we run into any serious trouble. We leave in twenty minutes."

"Sir Yes sir," they all reply. Twenty minutes later they were heading towards the hanger to board their helicopters. Lieutenant Meyer was already on board and didn't say anything. Sergeant Major Jack Price and Master Sergeant Dmitri Vasilyev had their men jump a few times to make sure their gear was going to stay in place. One soldier who jumped had ammo fill out and of course Dmitri was on him faster than a speeding bullet. The soldier made sure that his pack was sealed after that encounter. Once each man passed the inspection they were allowed to board the choppers. Sergeant Major Price gave the thumbs up and Dmitri return the gesture. Once onboard the pilots lifted off and they headed towards the communication relay. Two hours into their flight they finally spotted the Comm Relay Station. They saw no sign of any enemy contact but Sergeant Major Price wasn't taking any chances.

"I want you to circle around the coms relay," Sergeant Major Jack Price told the pilots. He looked over at the LT, but he was busy watching the ground. The pilot raised his thumb up and the other pilots replied. They circled the comm relay twice, seeing if they would take any fire from whoever had sabotaged it. "Helo 2 land; Bravo Squad, I want you to secure the entrance." He received acknowledge lights. Helo 2 landed a few feet from the entrance and Bravo Squad got out. They secured the entrance and there were no hostile contacts. The rest of the Phoenix's land and the rest of the squads joined them at the entrance. The Phoenix's headed back to base. As soon as the transport choppers were away they heard something before a Phantom appeared over the trees and opened fire. Lucky for them the Phantoms Plasma weapons were out of range, but the UNSC Rocket Launchers were also out of range. However the Phantom headed back the way they came. "What are the Covenant doing here?" Staff Sergeant Milton asked.

"They're probably got something planed for Fort Atlanta but other than that I have no clue; you guess is as good as mine," he answered. "However it's strange that a lone Phantom would appear and not deploy any vehicles or infantry." Lieutenant Mark Meyer hadn't said anything so a medic walked up to him.

"LT, are you okay?" The medic asked him. He still didn't answer so he repeated the question. Sergeant Major Price looked from the lieutenant to his men. "Let's get in the comm relay station before the Phantom returns with any additional support." All of sudden the forest near them came alive as Plasma bolts and Needlers begin hitting all around them, but they all miss. Sergeant Major Price gave the order to return fire, and they did. Gunnery Sergeant George Anders looked down the scope of his SRS99 sniper rifle and began nailing any Sangheili and Jackal Marksmen. The other soldiers with Battle Rifles, DMRs, M489's, and sniper rifles started to follow his example. One soldier fired his M89 Grenade Launcher in airburst mode, showering a squad of Grunts with deadly shrapnel, killing or seriously wounding the entire squad. A few soldiers had been hit by Needler Shards, but nothing to cause a super combine explosion. A plasma bolt from a Plasma Repeater hit an ODST in the arm; Corporal Thad Bullcock went over to him and sprayed some liquid on the wound, which bring immediate relief, then he bandaged the wound up. A rocket hits a tree and sprayed the Covenant with shrapnel, killing a few of the Covenant troops. An Elite was impaled by a piece of tree bark and howled in rage before he was put down. Carnage Platoon are cutting down a lot of Covenant infantry, though they are mostly Grunts and Jackals. The platoon aimed for gaps in the Jackals shields to get headshot on them, but when they clustered together they used a M89 Multiple Grenade Launcher or a M29 Rocket Launchers to scatter them. An Elite Major took the full blast of a rocket, but he wasn't the only one killed in the blast as a dozen Grunts and Jackals went up with him. Two Hunters exited from the tree line and opened fire, but they missed. Finally the lieutenant snapped out of whatever he was in and open fire at a couple of Grunts and Jackals.

"Take those Hunters out!" Lieutenant Mark Meyer ordered, and as it's the first time he's given an order he is probably scared shitless. The soldiers with rocket launchers fired and the two Hunters were eliminated but the Covenant still forced them inside the comm relay station; they lost four in the firefight with the Covenant and their bodies were still lying outside. The lieutenant turned towards Sergeant Major Price. "Sergeant Major, I want Alpha Squad to follow me, we're going to get this communication relay online. The rest of you hold this position." Lieutenant Meyer led the way, followed by Alpha Squad. They had no idea that they're walking into a trap in the form of five Sangheili Zealots and some Grunts and Jackals. Back at the entrance, the Covenant blew open the front door and they sent in the Grunts first. They're easily dealt with, and next came a mixture of Grunts, Jackals and a dozen Elites. Three men were lost in the second attack, but a few grenades finished off the last of the second wave off. Sergeant Vonya Campbell gave the order to fallback and fined better cover. However, before Delta Squad could pull out the Covenant attacked for a third time. The Elites fired their Plasma Rifles, Plasma Repeaters, Carbines, and Concussion Rifles and a few threw some Plasma Grenades, wiping out Delta squad. Sergeant Campbell watched as a few men were stabbed with Energy Swords. She threw a fragmentation grenade and when it exploded it stripped the shields off several of the Elites away which she then nailed with her DMR. She then fell back after throwing another frag grenade.

Sergeant Kat O'Donaild aimed her DMR at an Elite Ultra's head and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. Two Elites started advancing towards her; she ejected the spent magazine and inserted a new one. One of the Elites is on her before she could fire, and she managed dodged his energy sword swipe. She opened fire and managed to deplete the Elite's shield and then dispatched him with a headshot. She got to her feet, but an Elite attempted to grab her and she countered with some wrestling moves and ended up with her feet around the Elite's chest with the Elite in an arm bar. She then removed her SOCOM M919 pistol and opened fire into the Elite's head, dropping the shields and then finishing him off. Her legs, chest, and feet were then covered in his blood. She attempted to stand back up, but was knocked unconscious. Two Sangheili Minors then picked her up by the legs and dragged her unconscious body out of the station to an awaiting Phantom. They throw her onboard and then they returned to the fight.

"Launchers, now!" Sergeant Campbell ordered. They fire their launchers, stopping the advance and forcing the Elites, Grunts, and Jackals to retreat back outside. Phantoms, Sprits and a Litch were enroute to pick them up. Several men from Charlie squad exit from the station and fired on the retreating enemy forces until one of them is sniped, forcing the others back inside. Two of the platoons' snipers go to work eliminating the Jackal Snipers before they begin targeting the Covenant troops in the open field waiting for pickup. The Phantoms, Sprits, and Litch arrived. The Phantoms begin firing on the entrance to keep the humans heads down. One soldier is seriously wounded and the medic goes and helps him. Once the Covenant troops are onboard they leave the comm relay in the hands of the humans.

Lieutenant Meyer went around a corner and was impaled by one of the Zealots. Sergeant Major Jack Price, Master Sergeant Dimitri Vasilyev, Gunnery Sergeant George Anders and the rest open fire at three Sangheili Minors that were with him. The Elite Minors are killed but the Zealot disappeared, leaving the LTs body behind. Jack and the others chase after the Elite Zealot, dealing with Grunts, Jackals, a few Elite Minors, and a crimson Elite along the way. However the Zealots manage to slip away, except for one which they manage to capture. Four Alpha Squad members were wounded, but nothing seriously, they'll be back in the field after the doctors back at Fort Atlanta clear them. Master Sergeant Dmitri walked up to Jack. "Hey Gunny, I got a scratch from a Grunts claws."

"I'm not a Gunnery Sergeant anymore, and what do you mean a Grunt scratched you? How the hell did a Grunt manage to scratch you?"

"I know you're no longer a Gunnery Sergeant, but old habits die hard Jack. The Grunt jumped on me and if it wasn't for Wolf's marksman skill I believe the Grunt would have done me in."

"You getting done in by a Grunt's claws, that'll be the day." Jack finished before they manage to get the communication relay back online.

"This is Copperhead, the Covenant were responsible for taking the comm relay offline." Sergeant Major Price said.

"Roger that Copperhead, what the status of the Covenant?" a person said on the other end.

"They retreated but we have no idea where they went."

"Copy that Copperhead; we'll dispatch UAVs to look for them; return to base. How many men did you lose?"

"We lost seventeen and one was captured, sir," Sergeant Major Price reports.

"What do you mean captured?"

"The Covenant knocked Sergeant Kat O'Donaild out and they carried her to an awaiting Phantom." There wasn't a response.

"Understood Copperhead; return to base, we'll debrief once you safely home." The Phoenixes arrived along with some Falcons and they headed back to base.

Sergeant Kat O'Donaild wakes aboard a Phantom and a Sangheili Ultra turns towards her. "Once we arrive you'll wish you were never captured, human." She still had no clue what the Covenant want with her. She had heard stories about things the Covenant did during the war, but mostly of what Brutes did to their prisoners.

"Where are we going?" She asked him. The Elite Ultra didn't reply.

"Open up the doors," The Elite Ultra said. The Phantom doors open. She looks out and saw two Covenant ships hovering above a city. She looks down and realized the city had been abandon for a long time. The Phantom landed aboard one of the Covenant Battlecruisers and three Elite Minors take her to the prison cells. She still had no idea what city she was above or what the Covenant was planning, though she hoped that she could at least learn what they're planning before they kill her.

The Phoenixes returned to Fort Atlanta and landed in the hanger after control cleared them to land. Sergeant Major Price was the first one off the Phoenix and he was surprised to see Major Rebekah-099 there to greet them. "Welcome back sergeant major, sorry about the men you lost," she said.

"Thank you ma'am, the Covenant set a trap for us and I must say we dealt them a more serious blow then they did us," he replied.

"Colonel Thompson is waiting to debrief you."

"Colonel Thompson returned?"

"No, he's still in Charleston but he's on video conference."

"Dmitri, have the wounded taken to the infirmary and have the others checked out as well; we were all expose to those Needler projectiles. Have the men clean their weapons once their done then they can get some chow.

"Yes major," he said with a laugh. Jack glared back at him. "I mean sergeant major." Dmitri turned to follow his orders and Jack followed Rebekah to the conference room.

"You know sergeant major; Colonel Thompson wants to promote you to lieutenant." Jack didn't say anything as the news had shocked him. He had turned down a few promotions to officer during the first war, but now the LT is dead he didn't feel like having another rookie LT lead his men in the fight against the Covenant. He entered and stood at attention.

"Nice job at the Coms Relay, and sorry about your men sergeant major. As Rebekah no doubt told you, I want to promote you to the rank of lieutenant. What are your thoughts on the subject sergeant major?" Lieutenant Colonel Thompson asked.

"I would like the time to think about the promotion sir," Jack replied.

"I understand, you have 24 hours to come to a decision. But back to business; our satellites and aerial drones have found a Covenant encampment, plus a Sangheili Zealot who we believe is in charge of all the Covenant forces in this sector. We need to stop the Covenant from getting a foothold. "An image appears on the screen. Sergeant Major Price recognized the Elite Zealot as the same one they encountered at the coms relay. "I take it you seen this Elite before."

"Yes sir," he replied. "What are my orders sir?"

"Kill him," the colonel replied. "I'm going to give you and your men 25 hours to rest then you will take a squad and eliminate this Zealot, hopefully with his death the remaining Covenant will run."

"Yes sir," he replied and the screen went black. Sergeant Major Price headed to the NCO barracks to get a shower and relax for a little while. Dimitri entered the showers at the same time.

"What's the word Jack?" He asked.

"Lieutenant Colonel Thompson wants to promote me to lieutenant, and Rebekah agrees with him. That and we have an assassination op in 25 hours" At hearing this Dimitri starts to laugh.

"They want to make you an LT! Even after all the BS you give about lieutenants, especially those who go through OCS. All fairness though, you would make a better lieutenant then any of the others coming out of OCS." Dmitri strips off his uniform and joined his friend Jack in the showers. "So did you accept the offer yet?"

"No, I have 24 hours to make my decision but I don't know if I want to. I'll be commanding the whole platoon."

"Jack, you're already commanding the whole platoon and you're the Platoon's Sergeant Major.

"Actually I'm the companies Sergeant Major," he answered.

"If I accept the promotion then you'll be responsible for our platoon." Jack finished and headed out of the shower before more of the soldiers arrived. He's sure Dmitri will tell everyone the news. He was still trying to figure out if he wanted to be a Platoon Leader when a medic came up to him.

"Sergeant Major, you need to report to the infirmary you still need to get checked out." He had forgot to go to the infirmary after being exposed to the Needler Shards. After the doctors checked him out and he returned to the NCO barracks.

* * *

 **Next on SHCW (Second Human-Covenant War) Copperhead Squad is assign to neutralize a Sangheilli Zealot General in charge of the Covenant troops near Fort Atlanta an easy mission but things go sour after they're cut off.**


	14. Chapter 14: Ambush of Copperhead Squad

**Disclaimer: Halo belongs to Bungie and 343 Industries**

* * *

 **Author Note: As promise here is the 2nd mission involving Georgia Company. i hope you enjoy the chapter. Regular author note at the en** d.

* * *

Ambush of Copperhead Squad

Mission 2 of Georgia Company

 **Charleston, South Carolina**

0730 hours

Lieutenant Colonel Thompson arrived in the UNSC Headquarters' located at the historic Fort Sumter located within Charleston Harbor. The Pelican touched down on the landing pad and he stepped out followed by four UNSC soldiers. Another Lieutenant Colonel was waiting for him, this one was in command of Titian Company, and they shake hands before speaking up. "Major General Douglas McArthur wanted to see us in the command center ASAP." They head to the command center, talking as they go. They arrived at the command center after passing through another security station. Major General McArthur turned around to face them and they salute the general and he returned the salute. "Listen up gentleman, we know the Covenant were planning something, they already hit Alamo 1 and now they're attacking the United Kingdom. We can't allow them to attack any cities on the Eastern Coast of the URNA. We know about a Covenant encampment and the Sangheili Zealot running the show; do you have a squad which can take care of them?" General Arthur asked Lieutenant Colonel Thompson.

"Yes sir I do," he replied.

"Get it done son," the general replied. Lieutenant Colonel Thompson saluted him before exiting the command bunker.

Fort Atlanta, located outside of New Augusta

Sergeant Major Jack Price arrived at the infirmary to check up on the men and women who were injured in their last engagement with the covenant as Carnage Platoon had a dozen casualties in their last engagement. The doctor came up to him. "Sergeant Major, we're doing what we can but, many of these men were in a very bad state and I'll have to send some of them to Charleston for better treatment in the morning. The others will need a few weeks before they were able to return to active duty."

"Thanks doc," Sergeant Major Price said as Rebekah entered the infirmary and walked up to him.

"How were they doing?" She asked.

"Some of them will need to be transferred to a hospital in Charleston, South Carolina for better treatment," he answered.

"Price, do you remember back on Spiron when you first met me and Zeus Squad?"

"Yes I remember," he answered.

"At the time, Major Heath-118 knew that one day you would make a great officer. Your men, and even the other officers, respected you. You had his respect as well," She told him. "You're officer material and I would hate to see Carnage Platoon in the hands of another rat ass lieutenant who doesn't care a thing about the men under his command, unlike you and Colonel Thompson." She walked away and he gave one more look at the wounded before following her out. He headed to the NCO Club where Dimitri and Jones were both playing poker with a few of the other NCOs. He went over to the table.

"Dimitri, Jones I need to talk to you." Jack said to them.

"Can't we at least finish this game Jack?" Dimitri asked.

"Ya, you can finish the game, when it's over you guys better come find me." Jack replied before sitting down at a booth, ordering a beer, and waited for them to come and join him. A few minutes go by before Dimitri and Jones join him; they both order a beer. "So what do you want to talk to us about?"

"Rebekah came to see me while I was checking up on my men."

"What did she want?" Dimitri asked. "Wait, don't tell me, she wanted to ask you out?"

"Hell no, you know that's not it and you should know better than that as officers aren't allowed to fraternize with enlisted," Jack answered.

"So can I have her then," Dmitri said laughing.

"Will you stop that, I know you know that I have liked her since we met her back on Spiron."

"I know, I also know that she wouldn't go for someone like me, she does seem to like you though. You do have to admit, she has a beautiful face."

"Ya she does have a beautiful face," Jack replied.

"So what did our hot Spartan Chick want?"

"She asked me if I had thought any more about becoming Carnage Platoon's Platoon Leader; she also said I would be an excellent officer."

"Why does she think that you would make a good officer?"

"She said that I was picked," Jack answered.

"Who would pick you?"

"Colonel Heath," Jack answered. "She said that he knew the first time we meet that I would make an excellent officer one day. What do you think I should do?"

"I think you should take the promotion, just as I suggested you do the last three times you asked me, right before you declined them. I'd rather have you commanding Carnage Platoon then some know it all lieutenant," Dimitri replied.

"Officer on deck!" They hear someone shout before they all stand up as Major Rebekah-099 entered the club. Despite having her armor off, every soldier knew who she was. She was wearing a black-dress, which made many of the NCOs give a cat-call at the sight of her as she was a very beautiful woman. She goes over to Price's table.

"May I join you?" She asked them.

"Of course major," all three of them reply.

"You can call me Rebekah when were off duty," she replied as she sat down.

"Rebekah, you do know that this is the NCO's Club right?" Price asked her and she nodded.

"When will one of you boys offer to a lady a drink?" She asked them as a waitress came over to the table and Jack ordered her a drink.

"If you don't mind me asking ma'am, what were you doing here?" Dmitri asked her.

"I came to have a drink with some old friends," She answered. The waitress brought all four beers at the same time and they all drank their beers together. "Have a goodnight boys; I'll see you tomorrow Jack." She said before leaving the NCO Club. The Marine and Army NCO's give a sigh of relief after she left as many of them had felt uneasy with an officer, especially a Spartan Officer, present.

The next day, both Sergeant Major Jack Price and Gunnery Sergeant Dimitri Vasilyev reported to the briefing room. Major Rebekah-099 was also present and they were slightly shocked to see that she wasn't in her armor, but her navy uniform. A screen popped up with Colonel Thompson on it, staring at them. "Sergeant Major, have you thought it over yet?" Jack looked from Dimitri to Rebekah, then back to the colonel.

"Yes sir I have thought it over, and I will accept this promotion to lieutenant," he replied.

"Then congratulations on your promotion, Lieutenant Price. Major, if you would do the honors." Rebekah walked up, removed his Sergeant Major symbol, and replaced it with his lieutenant bars on his uniform's collar and they salute one another. He then saluted the screen and Lieutenant Colonel Thompson returned the salute. "Lieutenant, your first mission is to assassinate the Elite Zealot that you encountered at the relay station. ONI believes that a small contingent of Covenant troops has infiltrated the URNA from South America and they believe that taking out the Zealot will cause them to retreat."

"Don't worry sir, we'll take care of it," Jack replied.

"Lieutenant, you will only be allowed a small team of eight other men for this mission as this mission requires speed and stealth."

"I understand sir," Jack answered before he and Dimitri exited the room.

"Sir, permission to tag along?" Rebekah asked the colonel. The colonel looked at her.

"Permission granted major," he replied. Lieutenant Price selected six men, along with Dimitri and George. Rebekah then entered the armory in full MJOLNIR armor.

"Lieutenant, permission to tag along?" She asked him.

"What did the Old Man say?" He asked.

"He gave me permission, but in the end it's up to you."

"The permission granted Spartan, always a pleasure to have you along." Jack replied.

Assignation of Sangheili Zealot Field Master:

They headed to the hanger to board a Pelican Dropship. Once they were all on board the pilots lifted off and once they cleared the hanger they were off to the insertion point. Once at the insertion point they jumped out of the moving Pelican and deployed their parachutes. As soon as they hit the ground they prepared for an attack, but one never came so they cut themselves free, grabbed their gear and begin their hike to the sniper nest. So far they haven't seen any Covenant patrols, including any air patrols. Lieutenant Price was surprise by this since usually there were normally a lot more patrols protecting the encampments. Rebekah had a theory which she shared with them.

"They're trying to avoid being detected by the UNSC Air Patrols, but I guess they don't know that we caught them with our satellites." Every soldier was glad that they wouldn't have the enemy breathing down their necks, but they all know that once the Zealot was killed they would have all the Covenant they could ever want. Major Rebekah was on point when her motion tracker picked up a red dot. She told the troopers following her to find cover. A Brute patrol appeared and passed by their hiding spots. The Brute patrol consisted of ten Brutes, one being a Brute Major, 3 dozen Grunts, a dozen Jackals, and to the surprise of the soldiers, two Hunters. They let the patrol pass by them and after the last Brute disappeared, Rebekah stepped out to make sure the area was clear before she signaled for the rest of the men to join her after a few seconds had passed. They then proceed onto the sniper nest and she continued to lead them. They encounter no more enemy patrols and reached the snipers nest which overlooked the enemy encampment just as nighttime arrived. Major Rebekah and Gunnery Sergeant "Wolf" Anders took up positions to take the shot while Lieutenant Price placed his men in a defensive perimeter in case the Covenant accidently stumbled upon them before they could make the shot or before they can leave after the shot was taken. Rebekah and George look through their scopes and see the Sangheili Zealot talking to his troops. Six Sangheili Ultras were standing behind him, and two generals on either side of him. Her motion tracker was also picking up Banshees in the skies.

"Wolf, you take out one of the generals, I got the Zealot," She told him and he replied with a thumbs up. Rebekah was the first to fire. She watched through her scope as the projectile blows the Zealot's head apart and also killed one of the Ultras standing behind him. Wolf fired next, taking out the nearest Elite General with a headshot. A Wraith begins firing into the woods trying to hit them and Rebekah smiles she takes aim on the Wraith with her SBK-100D-35-AP Sniper Rifle. The SBK-100D-35-AP has 20 round mag instead of four and is capable of destroying a Wraith tank with one well-placed shot. She fired and the Wraith tank exploded. Wolf looked up to watch what the Banshees were doing. Four Banshees headed towards them, but fly over their heads.

"That was close," Lieutenant Price said. "Major, shouldn't we fall back before they realize where we were?"

"No not yet, the more Covenant we can kill now means the less they will be to pursue us," she replied. Gunnery Sergeant George "Wolf" Anders looks back down range and lends supporting fire to the major. She nailed a Grunt on a Shade turret that was firing into the woods. The Covenant soldiers were firing into the tree line around their encampment as so far they don't know where the shots were coming from. Anders and Rebekah begin nailing even more of the Covenant soldiers. Two Phantoms lifted off and heads towards them. Rebekah aimed at one of the Phantom door gunners and killed the Sangheili Minor on the plasma cannon, his corpse fell off the Phantom and landed somewhere in the woods. The Phantoms go over their head and they wonder if the Phantom saw them and just ignored them or they have no clue where they were. Her motion tracker soon picked up red dots coming up behind them. A plasm blast hits a tree right in front of First Sergeant Dimitri. Dimitri turned around and shot the Grunt in the head, but more appeared. Lieutenant Jack Price and the others made short work of the cowardly Grunts. Three Brutes attacked next and they met the same fate as the Grunts. One of Lieutenant Price's men was hit in the shoulder by a Brute Spiker. "Jack duck!" Rebekah yelled at him right before firing her sniper rifle right pass Jack's left ear. He turns around and sees a Brute Captain fall with a Jiralhanae knife in his hand. She fired three more times and each shot results in a headshot kill on three Brutes. Jack was still amazed by her skill with a sniper rifle. She throws a grenade into the woods and was rewarded with some screams.

"Let's get the hell out of here," Sergeant Dimitri suggested. They soon disappeared into the woods with their VISORs activated since it was night when they got to their sniper nest. They headed out to the extraction point.

A short time after they left, a Phantom hovered above the site where the humans had killed their commander. A Sangheili general arrived at the site a short time later. He's surrounded by Sangheili Minors. He looked around and saw nothing but Jiralhanae, Grunt, and Jackal bodies, but no humans. "Find them; I want their heads on a pike!" He shouted. He look down and saw a boot print in the mud. He had seen the same boot print somewhere else before. "Demon," he finally said. Some banshees flew over the trees looking for any signs of the humans. One of the Banshees flew too low and crashed into a tree. The Elite General sent his troops out to find the humans. Phantoms were landing troops in the clearing and around 6,501 Covenant soldiers were searching for the human assassins. They would have attacked New Augusta and Fort Atlanta if Lieutenant Price and his men didn't act then.

Lieutenant Price, Major Rebekah, Gunnery Sergeant Anders, and Master Sergeant Dimitri, along with the four other men, were on their way to the extraction point. Their main radio operator was trying to raise Fort Atlanta for the extraction, but got only static in return. They had made good time, but when they arrived at their extraction they saw the dead bodies of their extraction team. All of sudden they take fire from the way they came; Lieutenant Price had accidentally led his men into an ambush. Most of the Covenant attackers were Grunts and Jackals. They manage to get pass them and run for it. Lieutenant Price thought they were goners, but Rebekah and Anders were helping them get out of the sticky situation. They ran as fast as their legs can carry them. They can hear Covenant aircraft in the skies above, but the density of the woods kept the Banshees from seeing them. They're in the mountains heading back to Fort Atlanta on foot. They still hadn't been able to reach anyone over the comms so they headed towards the secondary extraction point.

Meanwhile in Charleston, South Carolina, Colonel Thompson enters the communication center. A screen popped up showing the base commander of Fort Atlanta. "Colonel, I must inform you that the extraction team was destroyed before they could even make the pickup with Lieutenant Price and his men."

"Have you been able to raise his team?"

"No sir," the base commander replied.

"Keep trying to raise them, send out some Reconnaissance Drones to see if we can't find them," Colonel Thompson replied before the screen goes black. Colonel Thompson turned to one of the soldiers in the communications room. "Get me in contact with Major Arnold."

"Yes sir," the soldier replied before Major Arnold appears on the screen.

"Colonel Thompson, what can I do for you?"

"I need you to prepare an airstrike for the Covenant staging area. We can't allow them to get a foothold in this region."

"It'll take some time, perhaps two hours."

"Ok, just get it done major," Colonel Thompson said before the screen goes black for the second time.

Lieutenant Jack Price and the others continued to run until they couldn't run any longer, except for Rebekah. They found some cover in the thick undergrowth and behind some rocks. They knew that the Covenant was still after them, but they were dead tired. They each took a drink from their canteens as the radio operator kept trying to get anyone he could on the other end, but still only got static. They eat some cold MRE's since light from the heating fires will attract their pursuers. Rebekah volunteered to take first watch. Lieutenant Price watched as she disappeared into the darkness before he looked at Gunnery Sergeant Anders.

"Go find yourself an overlook position." Anders nodded before disappearing into the darkness behind them. Rebekah and Anders both set up trip-wires attached to grenades and flares, along with a few claymore mines to give them a warning if the Covenant finds them. Two hours later, Lieutenant Price moved through the darkness towards Rebekah position to see if he could find her. Even with his motion tracker he couldn't find her until he felt the cold steel of her UNSC combat knife against his throat.

"Careful Jack, there are traps and mines all around our encampment and I don't want you blown to little pity pieces." She whispered into his ear before removing the knife from his throat.

"I didn't even hear you approach," he said to her.

"A girl isn't going to reveal all of her secrets on the first date," she replied. He couldn't tell if she was smiling under her helmet with that comment.

"You call this a date?"

"I don't know LT, what were you offering?"

"Some company," he replied.

"Fair enough; follow me to my Den," she replied. He followed her to what she called her "Den".

"Have you seen anything yet? Have the Covenant found us?"

"Nope, everything's been quiet except for a few animals walking around. I almost shot a deer earlier," she answered before a silence settled over them and all they hear is insects.

"About earlier, was that payback for what happen on Spiron?"

"Frankly I'm surprise you still remember that one your men got the jump on a Spartan, and not just any Spartan but Colonel Heath. He told us what happened; Spartans aren't usually caught off guard and we've got used to wearing our armor, which gives us an even greater advantage on top of our augmentations. He admired your solders and later told us not to rely on the technology, but to remember our training and use our minds as those are our greatest weapons."

"So are you saying it was a fluke?" Jack replied.

"No, but you do know that if Heath wanted too, he could have killed your man. Our instructors taught us many things, and one of them was what to do if someone catches you off-guard and has a knife to your throat."

"Are you saying that regular soldiers can't stand up against Spartans?"

"Yes and no, it depends on the situation. The Spartan-II's are a different category then the Spartan-III's and IV's. I don't know if you have heard the rumors about the Master Chief taking on a squad of ODSTs and completely fucking them up. Spartans aren't invincible, but we can take more punishments then the average soldier can, but we're still human and we still bleed just like you do," she said.

"You still haven't answered my question though."

"No it wasn't payback for what happened on Spiron, I just don't like people trying to sneak up on me, especially when I'm in my zone." Rebekah said before looking at him. "Jack, what happened to the other members of Carnage squad that were on Spiron? Why were only you, Dmitri, and George here?"

"Rebekah, when we get back to base, would you like to go on a date with me?" He asked, surprising her slightly.

"Jack, I would be my pleasure, but you still haven't answered my question," she replied.

"I will tell you on our date," Jack answered before heading back to camp. Little did they know that several low ranking Sangheili Zealots had found them and were on their way back to inform the general, who had taken the position of Field Marshall.

When dawn arrives, the squad had no idea the Covenant found them during the hours of darkness. Phantoms, Sprits, Litchs, and a few new Covenant dropships were delivering troops and vehicles nearby, but the thicket of trees was too thick for the covenant vehicles to enter the woods. Rebekah and Anders were back in the encampment when suddenly they heard a twig snap. Anders looked through the scope on his sniper rifle and saw some movement, but it disappeared before he can get a good fix on the movement was.

"Anders, what did you see?" Rebekah asked him.

"Movement but it disappeared," he answered in a whisper.

"I'll check it out," she replied as Lieutenant Price walked up to her.

"Here, thought you might need this," Price said to her as he gave her his suppressed M7 SMG. She moved towards the edge of the woods where she saw some Covenant soldiers, including four Wraith tanks, on the perimeter. She started headed back to the camp, but four Skirmishers and two Brute Minors ambushed her. She opened fire with the Suppressed M7 SMG and the Skirmishers were easily dealt with; however, the Jiralhanae were a different story. She drew her suppressed M6D magnum to deal with the Brutes. She dispatched the last Brute with the M6D and her knife before returning to the camp.

"What did you see out there?" Jack asked.

"A large Covenant force was just outside of the tree line and they are encircling us as we speak. They will most likely attack in about 20 seconds." She said while giving Jack his SMG back. After hearing the info, the squad took up defensive positions. Dimitri placed his M247H Heavy Machinegun down on its bipod. Rebekah looked through her scope and nailed an Elite Major hiding behind a tree. The Elites opened fire after that, but only hit rocks, trees, and logs. Anders and Rebekah begin dispatching the Elite marksman. An Elite Minor fired his Covenant Carbine and missed Lieutenant Price's head by a matter of millimeters, hitting the tree behind him. Anders put a round right in between the Elite's eyes. A platoon of Elite Minors with energy spears charged towards the squad and Dimitri and the other soldier with a heavy weapon realized that was their time to shine and unleashed a hailstorm of hot lead. The Elites dropped like flies. Anders and Rebekah were focusing their attention on the Elite and Jackal Marksmen's. Lieutenant Price threw a fragmentation grenade underneath the feet of a few Grunts, blowing off body parts and throwing them in different directions. The Elite equivalent of a UNSC captain sent a group of Grunts, Jackals, Brutes, Elites, and some Hunters forward. Anders and Rebekah were nailing many of the Covenant soldiers with deadly accuracy. Two of his men fired their grenade launchers into the ranks of the enemy. Lieutenant Price was scanning the wood when he saw two Hunters moving through the trees. He gave the order to take them out, and the Hunters were shortly destroyed with a combination of a rocket launcher and a Spartan Laser. Dimitri's M247H were tearing through the Covenant ranks, not even the Jackal shields can withstand it's a sustained burst of the guns firepower. Debris from the trees were impaling the Covenant troops. Needler rounds hit all around the squad, but only small shards hit them. Plasma bolts from a grunt hit the tree Jack was hiding behind just as he popped out and shoot the Grunt, and four others, in the head. He took cover just as plasma, spikes, and needles began landing all around him. He waited for a few seconds before popping back out and nailing some more Covenant soldiers with his Battle Rifle before his mag emptied. He drew his magnum and opened fire, nailing Brutes, Grunts, and Jackals with headshots. He slide back into cover to reload his BR before tossing a frag on the other side of the tree and then mopping up 30+ Grunts rushing towards him with his MA5C. Further away, a rocket hit a tree, causing it to fall onto a Hunter, crushing the creature and several more around him. The Hunters bond brother roared in agony and fired its Fuel Rod Cannon at the top of the hill, clearing away some of the humans cover and blowing several of the soldiers down the hill. They survived with nothing but a few scratches and bruises. They took to work climbing back up the hill, firing at the Covenant soldiers along the way. They tossed some grenades trying to keep the enemy heads down, but ended up neutralizing some of the threats. Rebekah fired at the single hunter, blowing its head clean off. A Brute tossed a Spike Grenade, ended up in the trunk that First Sergeant Dimitri was using as cover. He ducked down just as the grenade exploded; sending Spikes in all different directions, but most went into the log. Dimitri then popped up and shot the Brute, and some of its friends, with his M247H LMG. He has to duck back down to reload and this allows Grunts and Jackals to advance on the log as other Brutes, Jackals, and Grunts fired on the log.

Every other soldier, including Rebekah, were busy with problems of their own, leaving Dimitri alone to face the multiple Grunts and Jackals approaching his position. He grabbed two of his fragmentation grenades and threw them over his shoulder they landed under the Grunts and Jackals feet. He popped up after the grenades explode and opened fire, forcing everybody to retreat. One of Lieutenant Price's men got hit by multiple Needles and they exploded, blowing him to pieces. Jack cursed and nailed the Brute that had been fire the Needler which had resulted in the death of one of his troopers. Another soldier was hit in the ankle by a Covenant Carbine bolt as he was moving to new cover. A few Grunts and Jackals managed to get into their perimeter, but were quickly eliminated. The Covenant quickly sent fresh troops in to try and overwhelm their defenses. A Drone swarm soon attacked Lieutenant Price's squad. The Drones forced everybody to focus on them, allowing the other covenant troops advance. Dimitri aimed his HMG up into the air, joining with Lieutenant Price in firing at the Drones while the others focus on the enemy foot soldiers. The Drones began falling out of the sky like the flies they are. Rebekah nailed a Sangheili Zealot who was fixing to fire his Focus Rifle at Lieutenant Price. Jack thanked her over the comms. However, she didn't answer him and instead he heard the crack of her sniper rifle two more times, he looked to the left and right and saw two Elites, both with spears, on either side of him lying over the log he was taking cover behind. He picked up one of the spears and turned around just in time to impale an Elite who was fixing to take his head off with some sort of energy axe, he let the spear dig into the dirt with the impaled body. He heard Rebekah's voice over the comms.

"LT stay down, you have more Covenant heading your way." Just as she said that, she was hit by a Jackal's Beam Rifle which knocked her on her ass and down a small hill within their perimeter. She got back up as the bolt had only taken down a percentage of her shields, but by the time she got back into position they were at full charge. She heard Jacks voice over coms and she answered him, telling him that she was alright and it'll take more than that to stop her. The Covenant troops soon begin retreating. Lieutenant Price had lost one soldier in the whole 55 minute firefight. Jack knows that they couldn't stay here since the Covenant had almost surrounded them and besides, another 55 minute assault would deplete their ammunition. They're almost out of rocket launcher ammo, they can fire the two launchers they have two more times before they're completely out of ammo. Plasma mortars begin landing around them. Rebekah spotted a fresh wave of Covenant soldiers heading their way, mostly Brutes and Elites. Rebekah and Anders nails several of them before their sniper rifles click emptied. Jacks voice crackled over their private coms.

"How much ammo do you guys have left?" He asked both of them.

"Four magazines," they reply as they reloaded their sniper rifles and started shooting at the enemy.

"Throw some smoke grenades!" Jack said, "We need to find a better position and hopefully we can get some air support." They threw some smoke grenades to cover their retreat and they ran. They ran knowing that the Covenant were right on their heels. They reach the edge of the cliff and looked back to see Skirmishers and Grunts closing in on them, with a few Brutes and Elites intermixed.

"We only have one chance, and that's to jump." Jack said, before Rebekah and Anders turned around and fire on their pursuers.

"Hurry up and make up your minds, stay here and die or jump and live," Rebekah said before dropping a Brute Captain. Dimitri also turned around and added fire from his heavy machinegun to the mix, dropping Grunts, Skirmishers, Jackals, Elites, and Brutes alike. His machinegun ran dry so he switched to his shotgun. Jack was the first to make up his mind and jump, followed closely by Dimitri. The other three men jumped after them, leaving Rebekah and Anders as the only ones on the cliff edge. "Anders, Jump; I'll leave a present for our guests." She said to him, so he jumped. Rebekah fired once more and nailing an Elite Ultra, causing another Elite to trip over him. She planted a satchel charge full of C-12 Explosive before she then jumped. Her shields protected her from the slide, but she destroyed small trees as she slide down the hill, everybody else was trying to avoid as many trees as possible. They all came to a stop at the bottom of the cliff, only inches from a river. Some of them had lost their weapons during the fall, including Rebekah's sniper rifle. Jack set a rally point near the water's edge. They all heard the explosion from atop the hill. They all arrived at the rally point where Jack handed Rebekah her sniper rifle, earning him a thanks from the Spartan. Wearing their ODST and Spec. Ops Armor, you couldn't tell if they had any bruises or broken bones from the fall. They all lifted their visors or took their helmets off so they could drink some water; the only one who didn't remove her helmet was Rebekah-099.

"Are you okay Jack?" Rebekah asked him.

"Yeah, I'm good except for a few bruises and possibly a broken bone or two. I'll get the doctors back on base to fix me up when we get back," he replied. "Good call LT, it sure beats the alternative." Anders said while he was constantly watching for any enemy contacts as a few Phantoms appeared in the sky. Jack turned towards one of his men. "Meyer, take a look and see if our back door is open."

"Yes sir," PVT. Tripp Meyer replied. Private Becky Lafarge went with him. As soon as they emerge from the trees, they came under fire from two Shade Turrets planted across the river. Private Lafarge was hit in the leg and collapsed, that was when Staff Sergeant Mitton came out and saw the two shades and helped Private Meyer drag Becky to cover. He grabs the soldiers M29 Rocket Launcher and destroys both Shades, but some Ghosts appeared, along with several Specters. He told the two privates to keep their heads down as they made their way back to where the others were, where he told the two officers the bad news.

"Sir, Ma'am, the back-door is a no go," he said.

"We're totally screwed now." Private Becky said.

"Stoll that bellyaching trooper, remember you're a Devil Dog," Dimitri said to her. She shut up after that, not wanting to feel the wrath of the first sergeant. A Recon Drone flew over the area that they were in and all of sudden the radio came alive and Lieutenant Price heard Colonel Thompson voice on the other end.

"Lieutenant Price, can you hear me, over?" Price heard him say.

"Sir, you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice. Mission accomplished, but we've stirred up a hornets nest down here. Requesting immediate support, over," Lieutenant Price replied.

"Aright Lieutenant, support is on the way but be advised, you have a mass of Covenant troops surrounding your position so you better hunker down, out" Colonel Thompson said before the radio went dead again.

"Looks like we've been ordered to hold this position and wait for support, so let's get digging, but first I want an ammo and equipment count; on the double troopers!" Jack said to his men. Anders and Rebekah checked their ammo count, three mags, plus the nearly depleted magazines already in the weapons were left for their sniper rifles, four fragmentation grenades, three Claymore Mines, and they each had four magazines for their secondary weapons and sidearms. Dimitri only had ammo left for his shotgun and sidearm. Everybody was short on ammo for their primary weapons, but they're still determined to hold the position. Rebekah and Anders moved out into the woods to place the mines. They spotted five Jiralhanae Minors, so they use stealth and snuck up behind them, assassinate all five. They soon returned to the position with the Brutes weapons, including a couple of plasma and spike grenades. Dimitri looked over one of the weapons. It looked similar to a human battle rifle and was known as the Type-500 Carbine. They waited for the covenant to approach and Anders spotted additional Covenant reinforcements arriving through his sniper's scope.

"Hold your fire until I give the command." Jack said, and even though Rebekah outranked him, this was his squad and she allowed him to give the orders. "Rebekah, you and Anders focus on their snipers and officers." She gave a thumbs up, and so does Anders. They opened fire on the covenant, nailing a Brute that was running towards them firing his Spiker. Jack waited for his snipers to eliminate the enemy snipers and the Sangheili equivalent of UNSC officers. Twenty-five Grunts opened fire all at once and Jack told his men to wait until they had stopped firing. Anders and Rebekah nailed half of the Grunts, and their Brute commanders, before Jack ordered everybody else to fire. They opened fire on the Covenant soldiers that were coming down the hill. The Covenant soldiers were swallowed up in the hailstorm of lead. A Covenant Carbine bolt hit Private Becky in the shoulder and the medic saw to her wound. She reloaded her M739 LMG and opened fire, nailing several Grunts and an Elite who manage to gain a few inches while she was reloading. She kept firing until she ran out of ammo. She threw a frag grenade, causing a group of Grunts to scatter, but some of the grunts, and a severely wounded Brute, were caught in the blast. Three Elites tripped over a trip-wire grenade which detonated, killing two of them and severely wounding the third. A Brute came over to the Elite and fired his Spiker into the Elite's head, ending its suffering, but Rebekah nailed the Jiralhanae with a headshot before it could do anything else. She ejected her spent magazine and reloaded with her last mag. The Covenant had tripped all the mines so they started to fall back.

The Elite General from his vantage point, looked down at the battle field and he could see the muzzle flashes of the human weaponry. The Sangheili General turns to his underlings.

"Send in twenty Elites supported by a dozen Grunts and attack their left flank, while a Jiralhanae captain take thirty of his fellow Brutes and attack their right flank. Have our marksman on the other side watch the area near the water, they may try to cross at night."

"Yes general," a Sangheili colonel replied before giving those instructions to the Elites and Brutes.

The second wave of Covenant soldiers attacked Copperhead Squad. They beat them off, but the second assault was only a diversion while the Sangheili and Brutes got into a position to strike. Jack, Rebekah, Anders, Dimitri, and Sergeant Milton knew something was up. "Milton, go check our flanks." Sergeant Milton and one of the privates headed towards their rank flank and just as he emerged from cover, the Jackal sniper nailed him with a headshot. Private Nanu fired up at it, but was eliminated by a Brute who fired his Spiker into her back. Dimitri arrived with Private McFall and they killed the Brute, McFall handed his M247H to Dimitri to cover them while he picked up Private Nanu and took her back to the rest of the group. Dimitri hosed down many of the Brutes and Grunts that had appeared. A Plasma grenade landed on a tree behind him, showering him with debris, but he continued to pour lead upslope. The Jackal marksman attempt to bring him down, but he used cover to keep them off of him.

"Anders, I could use some fucking help down here if you're finished jerking off." He said over the comms. Anders turned his attention towards Dimitri and nailed many of the Covenant soldiers until he only has three rounds left. Lieutenant Price came onto the comms.

"Dimitri, get your ass back here, now!"

"Working on it LT," he replied, nailing three Grunts and a Sangheili with his M90 shotgun. A Brute then tackled him, but Anders put his last bullet into the Brute's skull, causing the Brutes carcass to collapse on top of him. Anders rushed over to him, drawing his MA5C and mowing down several Grunts; while he was still running he ejected a spent magazine and inserted a new one. He helped Dimitri roll the Brute off him before they headed back to the others. However, a Hunter appeared and fired at them, missing, but causing them to fall back down the hill. The Hunter came charging straight towards the two down ODST's. Rebekah aimed for the Hunter's head and fired, blowing the Hunters head clean off; luckily, Anders and Dimitri had already moved out of the way before the Hunters body landed. She had the last round for her sniper rifle loaded and she nailed the second Hunter with another headshot. She set her sniper rifle down next to a tree and removed the M489 Assault Rifle from her back just as Anders and Dimitri returned from down the hill.

"How's our ammo looking?" Jack asked.

"We're running low LT," Dimitri replied. Private Becky ducked down just as some plasma rounds hit the cover she was using. She ejected the spent magazine and inserted a new one, her last mag for her LMG. Elites begin deploying portable energy shields to use as additional cover. Jack's squad was running low on both ammo and time, as the Covenant were tighten the noose. Three minutes later and the only ammo left were for their magnums. Dimitri threw his last fragmentation grenade, silencing a squad of Grunts.

"Well it's been an honor severing with all of you," Jack said to them.

"Well if we're going to die, then let's take as many of those fuckers out with us," Dimitri said.

"Hoo-rah," Private Kersey said. The rest chanted "Hoo-rah" as well, ready to take as many covenant out as possible. All of sudden they heard a whistling.

The Sangheili general also heard the same whistling noise. All of sudden a missile hit the Wraith tanks behind him, spraying him with shrapnel and if he didn't have his shields up then shrapnel would have cut him to pieces. Another missile struck the ground, blowing him off the hill and down into the trees. He was dead before he even hit the ground. A Sangheili Colonel took over and he looked into the skies and saw it filled with human aircraft. Banshees and Seraph fighters moved to intercept them, but all of sudden a UNSC Frigate appeared and launched its A-11 and Longsword fighters.

The Frigate launched another salvo of missiles, destroying 8 Phantoms and 3 Sprits. A Litch fired at the frigate, but it weapons had no effect on the ship. A MAC round split the Litch in two with one round. Pelicans, Falcons, and Phoenixes were all launched from the hovering UNSC Frigate named the Medieval Night. Eighteen Litchs arrive, supported by three unidentified transports that are little bit bigger than the Litch. The Frigate opened fire with its Archer Missiles and MAC Gun, and the unidentified ships opened fire. The plasma weapons hit the Medieval Night and drop the shields only a fraction of an inch, while the Medieval Nights MAC rounds obliterate two of the new enemy ships. Phantoms and Sprits landed to Evac the Covenant troops before they could get thrashed by the UNSC reinforcements. The Covenant troops on the opposite side of the river begin retreating to their pick up points to be evacuated. Phoenixes, Pelicans, and Falcons all land and deposit their troops, including Lieutenant Colonel Thompson and all of Georgia Company. Pelican gunships provided air cover while Georgia Company, along with other UNSC soldiers, were mopping-up any Covenant stragglers. Copperhead Squad was assisted Colonel Thompson. The bodies of the fallen troopers were the first to leave the battlefield, followed by the wounded men, then the rest of the men, including Lieutenant Colonel Thompson. Jack and the others couldn't wait to get their injury's checked up upon by the nurses and doctors back at Fort Atlanta.

 **New Oreland, USA:**

The UNSC had no clue that a Covenant Battlecruiser had infiltrated the URNA and setup a base of operation in the abandon city of New Oreland's. The Sangheili Field Marshal tasked by the Supreme Commander to take out the URNA received the reports from his forces sent to distract the UNSC so his troops could fortify their base since he knew that there secret won't last forever.

* * *

 **Author Note: Thank you for reading this story. i like to think everyone who have reviewed, favorite and follow this story. I would also like to think my beta-reader thearizona for his hard work. if you haven't reviewed the story or favorite or followed please do so. I'm looking for names for Covenant Ships and new vehicles and weapon ideas for both the UNSC and the New Covenant Empire.**


	15. Chapter 15: The Battle of Manchester

**Disclaimer: the Halo universe belongs too 343 Industries and Microsoft Studios. I only own this story and the new characters, weapons. vehicles, and creatures not from the Halo Universe.**

* * *

The Battle for the United Kingdom

Part I

Manchester, United Kingdom

Thirteen days after the battle at Alamo 1 and the reconstruction of the city walls and defensive weaponry is still underway, and they're still trying to gather up all the Covenant bodies and dispose of them. The destroyed Covenant vehicles were also being removed to be melted down for materials as the UNSC was working hard alongside the Arbiter and the Elites that had allied with the UNSC. The Spartan-II's, III's, and IV's were busy checking their gear, as well as helping with the cleanup and rebuild of the base. Many were getting impatient as they wanting to get back into the fight with the Covenant and kick their asses off the Earth once and for all. Colonel Heath-118 walked into the Spartan barracks and every Spartan snapped to attention and saluted him until he returned the salute and told them to go back to what they were doing. Master Chief John-117 approaches Heath. "Do you have a mission for us sir?"

"No John I don't," he answered, "but you'll be the first one I tell you if a mission comes up." Heath headed to the control room to found out if Lord Hood had a mission for them as he was also getting impatient. As he was going towards the control room, the UNSC personal he passed salute him and he returned the salute. He entered the control room and goes up to Lord Hood where they shake hands after the colonel salutes him.

"What can I do for you colonel?"

"Do you have any missions for us?"

"The answer is still no colonel."

"Thank you sir," the colonel replied before turning around and making to leave the control room, but before he could a person appeared on screen.

"Lord Hood, the Covenant are attacking London! They have a ship right above Buckingham Palace and we have lost contact with the troops in the immediate area!"

"What about the MAC guns?"

"They were out of order sir, I don't know how. We were trying to get them back online but it looks like they have been sabotage. Requesting Spartan support."

"Request granted, I'll be sending you some support," Lord Hood replied before the screen goes black. "What the hell happened?" Hood asked someone on a computer station.

"Sir, we lost the feed, it must've been from their end." The technician told him.

"Colonel, did you hear that?"

"Yes sir," Colonel Heath-118 replied.

"Go get teams together."

"Sir Yes sir," Heath said before he saluted and left. The colonel contacted the Master Chief and told him to get eight Spartans, including himself, ready for a mission. He told the chief that he'll be there shortly after he goes and saw Major Tristan Rhodes, who commands two platoons of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. Colonel Heath arrived at the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers barracks. Every ODST present quickly went to attention.

"Major, I need you to assemble a platoon of your best troopers for a mission against the Covenant in England."

"Yes sir," Major Rhodes replied. "Listen up men, you heard the colonel and I want 40 men ready to move out in six minutes." The colonel left and returned to the Spartan barracks and when he entered they all went to attention and salute him.

"Is the team ready to go," Colonel Heath asked.

"Yes sir," the Master Chief replied. Heath looked at the eight Spartans that the Master Chief had picked for the mission. There was Tom, Lucy, Jun, Daniel and four Spartan-IVs. They then head to the armory to grab their weapons and gear.

"Make sure you pack heavy, we don't know what we're going to encounter in England, or how long we will be there." Heath told them. He grabbed his MA5B Assault Rifle along with a dozen magazines; he also grabbed a sidearm, different types of grenades, and a M90 shotgun. Once they were done getting their weapons, they went to the hanger to board the awaiting Pelicans for their trip to England. Major Tristan Rhodes and his ODST's were already in the hanger waiting for the Spartans to arrive. Several of the newcomers to Rhodes' ODSTs were talking shit about the Spartans since they have never met one before, but Major Rhodes straightened them out before the Spartans arrived. Once the Spartans arrived, they all boarded the Pelicans and as the pilots prepare to takeoff, the Pelican refused to start. They had to go get in one of the brand new Pelican Mark II models. The Pelican Mark II's were a brand new Pelican designed three years after the first Human-Covenant War. They can hold a platoon of soldiers instead of the usual squad or two. It even has a turret on the top of the Pelican to help protect the transport from enemy aircraft. The turret can hold different types of weapons such as the M68 ALIM Gauss Cannon, the M79 MLRS, and the M41 LAAG. They leave the base and head towards the United Kingdom with two Longswords escorting them. They land in France to refuel and wait for nighttime. Several hours before sunlight, the Pelicans and Longswords take off from an UNSC base in Paris, France and keep heading out towards London. They were over the English Channel when a squadron of Banshees appeared and opened fire. A combination of the Longswords and the Pelicans Gauss cannon easily blow them out of the sky. As they approach the city of Manchester, England, a squadron of Banshee and Seraph Fighters engaged them. One of the Longswords escorts is blown out of the sky before it even had a chance to evade the deadly plasma projectiles. The other Longsword left to go and deal with the Seraph Fighters. The Longsword pilot downed three of the Seraph before his bird was blown out of the sky. The gunner in the turret shot down four Banshees, but the rest opened fire with their Fuel Rod Cannons and hit the Pelican in the engines and one hits the turret, killing the Marine gunner. The pilot told the passengers that it was time to leave the doomed bird. Major Rhodes, his ODSTs and the Spartans all had jet packs on. The two Marine pilots appeared with jet packs and one of the pilots opened the back door, but two Banshees were still chasing them. Lucy had a Rocket Launcher and fired it at the Banshees, blowing them both out of the sky, before they jumped out of the Pelican. They activated their jet packs to slow their descent; two Spartans, including the colonel, managed to hit several buildings, which caused their shields to drop some. Colonel Heath-118 unattached the jet pack from his back before grabbing the drop bag filled with extra supplies and deployed a beacon so the rest of his team would come to him. A few minutes go by before Major Rhodes and twenty of his ODST's appeared, shortly after that Lucy appeared with a squad of UNSC Marines.

"Where did you found the Marines Lucy?" Heath asked her.

"They were pin down by some Grunts, but I took care of them," Lucy answered. They wait for a while longer, but nobody else arrived at the rally point so Heath got on the comms to see where they were.

"Chief, where are you and the rest of the team?"

"Tom, five ODSTs, twenty-five Marines and I are pinned down in a cathedral. We need assistance taking out the three Wraith tanks and four Shade turrets that have us pinned down." There was a pause and he heard a rocket fire. "Scratch that, three Shades. Hurry up; the Covenant may be trying to come in the back door."

"We're on our way," Heath replied. Just before they leave the rally point Jun, Daniel and one of the four Spartan-IVs arrived, along with the ten of the ODSTs. So if you're doing the math, all thirty-five of the ODSTs under the command of Major Rhodes are accounted for. They didn't get far from the rally point when they ran into a Covenant patrol consisting of an Elite Major in crimson armor, ten Grunts and five Jackals. Heath tackled the Elite, while the others take care of the Grunts and Jackals. Heath wrestled with the Elite, pinning it down before drawing his sidearm and firing the entire mag into the Elite's face; with the Elite dead, the surviving Grunts and Jackals tried to run away, but were all killed by sniper fire from one of the rooftops. Jun and Daniel soon repelled down from the rooftops.

"Thanks for the help." Heath said and they nodded in response. Jun slung his SRS99AM Sniper Rifle over his shoulder and drew his M7S Submachine Gun. They continued on towards the cathedral, and since the Marines with them were stationed in the city, one of them had taken point.

"Attention all civilian and UNSC personal within Manchester, we have Covenant inside of the city. They have arrived from London in vehicles and by dropships so we don't know the size of the force. All civilians please remain inside, lock your doors and arm yourself with the weapons that were given to you." They hear over the radio. A Marine went around a corner and falls down dead from a plasma bolt to the side of his head. The ODST right behind him also falls dead from another Covenant sniper. Heath and Rhodes both throw sensors out to detect the Covenant forces; even though Heath's motion tractor is picking them up, they can't determine where exactly they are. The sensors were small baseball sized objects that give out a pulse; it shows everyone with a HUD the location of the enemy within the range of the sensor. The sensor showed them the locations of the Jackal snipers, it also showed them that there's a Wraith along with four Elites, two dozen Grunts, and six Jackals with it. Jun and Daniel head to the roof of one of the buildings; an ODST with a rocket launcher followed them to get a drop on the Wraith tank. Heath decided to keep the Covenant busy while the others got into positions. Major Rhodes and a squad were going to come up behind the Covenant forces in an alleyway, thereby catching them in a crossfire. Colonel Heath-118 made sure that the safety on his assault rifle was turn off. He grabbed one of his plasma grenades and goes around the corner and throws it at the Elite Major. The grenade sticks to the Elites head and detonates, killing several Grunts that were standing too close. Jun and two ODSTs eliminated the Jackal snipers at the same time as Heath threw his plasma grenade at the Elite Major. An Elite Minor wearing blue armor charged at him firing his Plasma Repeater as he goes. Heath returned fire with his assault rifle and it took twenty-eight or so rounds to finish the Elite off. He then sprays the Grunts and a Jackal with the rest of his magazine. The Wraith opened fire with its plasma mortar, but it goes over his head. The Wraith fired again, but Heath used his quick reflexes and dodged out of the way of the deadly blob of plasma. He signaled for the Marines and ODSTs to open fire on from the buildings and toss grenades into the Covenant ranks. The Wraith was targeted by no more than six soldiers and it soon ceased to exist. Major Tristan Rhodes and the squad hit the Covenant from the rear eliminating the rest of them. They had regrouped and reloaded their weapons before continuing on to the cathedral when a call for help came over their radios.

"Mayday, this is Charlie platoon, we need assistance as we are cut off from the rest of our unit. Any UNSC personal in the immediate area please respond?" A frantic voice said over the radio, but with English assent. April was quick to react to the call for help.

"This is Red team, we are on our way," April said. Heath opened up his private com to discuss it with her.

"April, what are you doing? We need to go rescue the Chief."

"Heath, you and I both know that John can handle himself for a while."

"Is that a sense of humor I hear coming from you?" She didn't say anything so he switched back to regular coms. They headed in the direction of Charlie platoon. Heath threw another sensor to see what is around another corner, which he thought looked suspicious because of the destroyed Scorpion Main Battle Tank sitting right in front of them. The sensor picked up nothing, but his motion tractor was going nuts. He used hand signals to tell the others to retrace their steps and await his signal. Jun and Lucy volunteer to go with him, but he told Lucy to remain with Major Rhodes and told her over her private com that if anything should happen to him to make sure the mission gets accomplish. She replied with a green acknowledge light. Heath and Jun leave the safety of the alleyway and enter a major city street. Heath and Jun's motion sensors were off the charts, so they put their backs to one another when suddenly multiple Elites, Grunts, Brutes, Jackals and two pairs of Hunters appear all around them. Heath and Jun aim their weapons at the Covenant ground troops. Heath and Jun grab ahold of some plasma grenades and throw them at the Elites. They stick to the Elites and detonated, taking out other Covenant Ground troops with them, before they open fire with their primary weapon or in Jun's case his secondary weapon. Many of the Covenant infantrymen were killed from the two Spartan's deadly accuracy, but they quickly reorganized and returned fire. Heath and Jun get into to cover before Heath tossed a grenade into a line of Grunts firing Needlers at them. He contacted Lucy and told her to take the ODSTs and Marines around the ambush and under no circumstance to come to their aide. He tossed another grenade at several Brutes firing from the rooftops, blowing several of the Brutes off the rooftop. Jun fires his submachine gun at the two Elites charging towards him and they both fall under his fire. He tossed a plasma grenade at another Brute on a rooftop, which it explodes and killed several more Brutes, Grunts and Jackals. Heath used hand signals to communicate to Jun. Jun tossed a smoke grenade to allow him to escape from the ambush unseen. Heath continued to fire at the advancing enemy when April told him that there was a Warthog behind him and the gun should still be operational so he runs for the Warthog. Several Covenant soldiers tried to stop him, but were eliminated by the colonel's assault rifle. One of the Hunter's fired his Fuel Rod Cannon so the colonel slid underneath the Scorpion to evade the deadly weapon. He saw several UNSC Marine and Army bodies on the ground. He also saw a Jackhammer Rocket Launcher underneath the tank so he picked it up and fired one round at the pursuing Brutes, blows them away. He fired the next round at the Hunter, and then he ran out of ammo for the launcher.

Heath arrived at the Warthog and hopped into the mounted Gauss Cannon and fired it at the Covenant. He aimed towards the roof where Brutes were firing their Spikers at him when he saw a Jiralhanae fixing to throw a Spike Grenade at him, so he fired the Gauss Cannon at the Brute's chest. The Brute disintegrated and the grenade fell to the ground, killing the Grunts that were trying to shield the Brute from attack. Some Jackals had overlapped their shields and had started to advance on the Warthog. The Gauss cannon tore through the approaching Jackals; their shields didn't protect them from the bug weapon. Elites and Grunts with Fuel Rod Cannons opened fire on the Warthog, destroying it and blowing the colonel back a few feet. An Elite Zealot went to stab the colonel in the chest with his energy sword, but a bullet entered his skull and stopped him. The dead Elite Zealot fell on him, so Heath pushed the dead Elite body off of him. He nodded in the direction of Jun as he knew that Jun had his back; he then found another rocket launcher with eight rockets as well as a shotgun so he slung his assault rifle over his shoulder. Several Grunts appear in front of him so he shoots them with the shotgun, blowing them away. He killed two Elites, along with a Brute, with the shotgun. After the shotgun was emptied, he used the weapon as a club to kill several Grunts, a Jackal, and an Elite. He drops the empty shotgun, but then he spotted another shotgun, this one is the full-automatic shotgun known as AA-13. The Covenant ground troops start backing away from him when two Hunters fired their Fuel Rod Guns at the colonel, but he simply sidestepped them so instead they destroy the vehicle he is in front of. Jun had already killed one of the Hunters so Heath aimed the Rocket Launcher at the other Hunter and fired, blowing it head clean off its shoulders.

He opened fire at the next group of Elites, but they were retreating while firing their plasma rifles and plasma repeaters back at him. Many of the Elites were killed while others only had their shields depleted, until Heath reloaded the AA-13 Shotgun and fired at the Elites, their weaken shields allowed him to kill them with hardly any effort. He continues to use the shotgun until the magazine ran out. He drew his sidearm and continued to kill the Covenant. A sniper bullet nailed an Elite Officer that was approaching the colonel from behind. Heath killed four Grunts and then reloads his pistol for the third time. He killed several suicide Grunts, which in turn killed several other Covenant infantrymen. Forty-nine Elites, all with energy swords, charged Colonel Heath-118 and he knows that his assault rifle can't kill them all, nor can his pistol and he only has one fragmentation grenade left so he throws it at the Elites. Instead of rolling into the ranks of the Elites, it rolls into the ranks of Skirmishers that took the hit for the Elites. Colonel Heath-118 fired his assault rifle at the surviving Skirmishers and a couple of the Elites. An Elite slashed at him with his energy sword, but the colonel blocks the slash with his assault rifle, cutting his weapon in two. He drew his own energy sword after evading another sword slash. Heath killed the Elite with his energy sword by slashing at the Elite's throat. The other Elites charge at him, but Jun killed several of the Elites before they reach him. Jun then watched through his scope as the colonel engaged in sword fights with the Elites, and he is amazed with how well Heath fights with a sword; the Elites didn't stand a chance. A Needle Rifle nearly missed Jun but he continued to deal with remaining Covenant soldiers while the Colonel focused on the Elites and a few dozen Brutes still left. One Elite stabbed Brute through the chest due to the Brute getting in his way.

Jun was killing the Covenant with his sniper rifle on the rooftops, especially the Covenant snipers, when he heard an explosion behind him so he nailed one more Covenant Elite that was fixing to fire his Needle Rifle at the colonel. He then left his sniper rifle lying against the rooftop wall and he switched to his submachine gun. He saw the bodies of dead Elites and Grunts that had tried to sneak up on him. He entered the building and looked over the edge of the stairs to see additional Covenant soldiers moving up them. The Covenant soldiers consisted of Elites, Brutes, Jackals, and plenty of Grunts. He dropped two fragmentation grenades, as well as some plasma, grenades into their ranks. Two Grunts reached the top of the stairs, but were killed by his submachine gun. It took only a couple of minutes to deal with the remaining Covenant soldiers. He went back to see how the colonel was doing and he saw that the colonel had killed every single Elite and their bodies were piled up and he's on top of the pile holding two energy swords. He also saw bodies of Brutes, Jackals, and Grunts in the pile. Major Rhodes and the rest of the men that had arrived with the group soon arrived at the ambush site.

"You two just killed all these Covenants by yourselves?" a UNSC Marine asked in amazement.

"Yes son, we did," Jun answered.

"How many were there?" Major Rhodes asked.

"Two hundred thirty-six," April told them.

"That should take down the amount of Covenant troops in Manchester," another UNSC Marine said.

"Let's go rescue Charlie Company shall we?" Heath said. They headed in the direction of Charlie Company last know location; going slowly through the maze of streets and buildings, constantly watching out for any Covenant troops.

Charlie Company was held up in a military station, it was only a small lot with a concrete wall surrounding the main building. It only had six anti-aircraft guns, a single MASS Driver, and a dozen Warthogs to defend the installation. None of the weapons, but most of the Warthogs had been taken out by Fuel Rods rounds and Plasma Grenades. The wall had been breech in several places and the Covenant had been trying to get into the installation for several hours. The three Warthogs left in operating condition were blocking the breech points. Several Banshees flew over the military station, but no shots were fire on the first pass, the defenders were hoping that they will think the anti-aircraft batteries were offline. On the second pass the Banshees were all knocked out of the sky. The UNSC Marines were working hard to keep the military installation secure because they had a few Forerunner artifacts in a huge safe underneath the installation. The Covenant attacked the military installation again, sending in Grunts and Jackals first to soften up the opposition. The Grunts and Jackals were getting slaughter by the installation's defenses, but they were also inflecting casualties on the UNSC soldiers' station there. Two pairs of Hunters, along with forty Brutes, entered the fray. Twenty of the Brutes were wearing Power Armor, but the other twenty weren't and they were being led by two chieftains. Two Wraith tanks were also firing their deadly plasma mortars at them. A Marine with a Spartan Laser managed to destroy one of the Wraith tanks before a plasma grenade latch itself to the Marine's head and killed him. The Marines held the Covenant at bay from the walls for two more assaults before the third assault pushed them back to the main building, which lead to the underground portion of the base. A Spike grenade killed one of the Marines while they were falling back. Several unarmored Brutes were killed by the snipers on the roof as they tried climbing over the walls. A Marine fired a three-round burst into an Elite Minor, killing him and several Skirmishers with headshot before a Needle from a Needle Rifle eliminated him. They enter the main building with the Covenant right on the heels and the blast door seals itself behind the last Marine. Colonel Heath-118 and his team were making their way towards the military installation. They made it to a building rooftop several miles from the military installation. The area around the installation was in ruins, it was littered with destroyed Banshees, Wraiths, Phantoms, Sprits, and even the ruins of a Scarab. He couldn't tell how many Covenant troops were down there due to all the ruins.

"Jun, stay here and provide over watch." Heath ordered, so Jun remained on the rooftop while the rest of the men moved towards the military installation. Heath split the men up so that they would approach the installation from different approaches. Major Rhodes and six men were going with the colonel, eight soldiers were going with the other Spartan, and another sniper was staying with Jun to help him cover the rest of the team. Jun had already taken out two Jackal snipers. Heath took out a squad of Grunts that were patrolling the ruins around the installation, trying to make sure that no help would arrive for the defenders of the military installation. Heath took them out one at time without them knowing what happen. They saw unoccupied Wraiths, Ghost, and Revenants in a depot, so they planted explosives on the vehicles and left the area before a patrol consisting of two Elite minors, twenty-five Grunts, twenty-one Jackals, and two Hunters arrived. Heath waited for them to get into the blast radius of the explosives before he pressed the button on the detonator, obliterating the entire enemy patrol. They then hurry to get out of the area before more Covenant arrived. The Covies didn't understand what had happened as in another part of the ruins a squadron of Ghost were ambush. Major Rhodes nailed several Grunts and a Jackal that were checking out some vehicles on the side streets. April then told Heath that a squadron of Longswords was enroute to his location.

"We have to mark the Covenant locations so the Longswords know where to drop their payload." Heath told them over the coms. They marked the Covenant locations, especially the anti-air batteries that the covenant had set up, as they were using this area as a staging area to take over Manchester before moving on to other cities. The Longswords came in and dropped their payload onto the mark areas of the city. A dozen Phantoms and Sprits were caught on the ground and destroyed and plenty of Covenant troops were also obliterated. Colonel Heath-118 moved into the staging area followed by the others. Jun reported that two Phantoms, along with Banshee and Seraph support, were enroute from London. They entered the installation and saw the bodies of both Marines and Covenant. Several Grunts were moving through the bodies, looking for who knows what. They looked up and saw the Demons just as Heath and the others fired at them, killing them. They entered the main structure and found more dead Covenant, but only five Marines. Heath tried to hail them over the coms, but there was no response so they searched the structure.

"Lucy, take a Marine and gets the MASS Driver operational." Heath shouted out to her.

"Yes sir," she responded before grabbing a Marine and heading towards the control room that controlled the installations only Mass Driver Cannon. Heath, Daniel, and the others go towards the entrance to the underground bunker where they see more dead Covenant soldiers in the way, mostly Grunts and Jackals but there were also the bodies of Elites, Brutes, and even two Hunters. The elevator that lead down into the bunker was destroyed, so they had to use the stairway. They passed more bodies on the stairway; they consisted of all the different Covenant species, and even Marine who had died with his knife in an unarmored Brute. They pass through defensive positions in the hallways where the defenders had tried to hold off the Covenant. The colonel once again tried to reach the defenders over the comms, but with no answer. Heath didn't like that he could be leading everybody into a trap, but his motion sensor wasn't picking up anything. They found the huge blast doors that lead into the bunker had been blown open. They entered and go to VISR mode since the lights were out. The colonel picked up enemy motion on his motion sensor so he signaled for the others to be careful and to check their corners. The colonel could hear gunfire, but still couldn't reach the defenders on coms. They encountered only a small number of Covenant, which the colonel guessed were cleaning up and checking all the rooms for humans. They manage to save a group of Marines that were fighting off some of the Covenant in one of the rooms.

"Where were the rest of the Marines?" Heath asked a lance corporal.

"They were pulling back to guard the safe so the Covvies didn't get the Forerunner artifacts we have stored in there." The lance corporal answered.

"Do you have an armory nearby?"

"Yes sir, follow me," the lance corporal replied. They backtrack the way they came with the lance corporal leading the way until they came to the armory. Heath grabbed a Battle Rifle and told the others to grab a Battle Rifle or DMR if they didn't already have one. They then go to the entrance of the safe that held the Forerunner artifacts. They were on a walkway that overlooked a large room which led to the safe. The blast door protected the room which lead to the safe was still intact but the Covenant forces have already captured the defenders and had them lined up on their knees. A hologram projector was in front of them with the New High Prophet speaking to the Elite commander. The High Prophet told the Elite commander to contact him once he had the Forerunner artifacts. The Elite then turned to the captives and pointing his plasma rifle at the Marine in charge.

"You will open this door or I will kill your men one at a time until you open the door." The Marine Officer didn't say anything so the Elite shot the Marine next to him in the head. He then pointed the rifle at the next Marine in line. Heath looked at the Marines and Army soldiers with him.

"I want each of you to pick a target and hold you fire until I give you the order to fire."

"Sir, what were you going to do?" Major Rhodes asked him.

"I'm going to go down there and rescue those Marines," he replied before getting up and heading towards the bottom of the room. Heath came out of the shadows which scared the few Grunts guarding the entrance. They run away shouting demon. The other Covenant forces turned towards him with their weapons pointing directly at him. The Elite told him to drop his weapons, which he does without hesitation. Major Rhodes was trying to figure out the colonel's plan as a dozen Elite surrounded him.

"What do you want Demon?" The Elite commander asked.

"I'm here to help you retrieve the Forerunner artifacts, as long as you spare me and these men. I know you Elites will honor it due to your honor." The colonel held out his hand. "Do we have a deal?" The Elite commander took the colonel hand and shook it. Major Rhodes was surprise that the colonel didn't break the Elites neck so they could save the Marines. The colonel asked for the Marines' Officer to assist him. The Marine looked at the colonel, trying to figure out what the colonel was planning. He opens the blast door and then the safe door. The Elite and four other Elites entered the area behind where the colonel and the Marine were. The Elite commander looked at the colonel.

"Why haven't you entered the safe yet human? Are there any traps?"

"I don't know, but it helps to be careful," he replied in a calm way. The Elite commander motioned for the Demon and the Marine to go through the passageway to the area beyond.

"The traps only work on Covenant right?" He asked the Marine in a whisper.

"Yes sir," the Marine replied. "What are you planning sir?"

"The others outside can't see in here, so we're going to take care of these five Covenant before we deal with the rest." The entered the main compartment and the colonel told the Elites that there were no traps. As soon as the Elites go a few feet into the passageway, the traps take the Elites out by cutting them in half. They go back through the passageway, pausing long enough to grab the Elites plasma rifles and one of them had a Plasma repeater, which the colonel grabs. The colonel heard a garble transmission over his coms from Jun, but he couldn't make out what he was saying. He asked April to boast the transmission so he could make it out. They made their way back to the entrance. He told Major Rhodes to wait for his signal to begin firing and then Heath came out of the entrance to the safe threw a plasma grenade at the nearest Elite and it detonated, taking the Elite and two Grunts out before he opened up with the Plasma Repeater and the Marine Officer opened fire at them as well. Major Rhodes and the others opened fire on the other enemy soldiers; taking them by surprise so it only took a couple of minutes to eliminate the remaining Covenant. After that, they headed back to the surface after they set the Marines free. The Marines picked up the dropped Covenant weapons, which consisted of plasma rifles, Covenant Carbines, and Needlers; they were going to use them until they reach the armory where they could get some good old fashion UNSC weapons. They arrived at the armory where the Marines grabbed assault rifles, battle rifles, DMRs, shotguns, and rocket launchers. They reached the surface and saw a Covenant Light Cruiser heading right towards the installation.

"Lucy, is the Mass Driver Cannon online yet?" Heath asked.

"Not yet, we need about ten minutes," Lucy replied.

"We don't have ten minutes, there's a cruiser about three minutes out." The cruiser stopped at a soccer stadium several miles away from the military installation. Heath entered the control center of the military installation. A screen popped up and showed him the stadium. He saw the Covenant cruiser starting to unload its troops and vehicles. He noticed that the cruiser didn't have any Elites onboard so the ship must be commanded by Brutes. He told the Marines to get ready as they were in for one hell of fight. The Marines begin setting up machineguns at every window, but first they closed the blast shades, which could stand up to a limited amount of heavy plasma weapons. The windows had gun ports cut into them so the defenders can fire at the attackers, but the attackers can't hit them. Several Marines were making sure the anti-aircraft guns were reloaded, but the MASS Driver was still offline. The Covenant was massing a huge force to take out the military installation. Jun was going to do whatever he could do to slow them down to give the colonel and the rest of the team even more time to prepare for the Covenant attack. Jun begin setting up traps for the Covenant to slow them down. Heath hoped that their preparations would help them keep the Covenant at bay until reinforcements could arrive and drive the Covenant out of Manchester.

Several squadrons of Ghost and Revenants were enroute to the military installation. Jun and a Marine sniper were waiting for the Covenant vehicles to enter the trap. The Brute pilots don't realize that Jun had planted mines. They run into the minefield and were vaporized; some of the Brute pilots managed to survive the explosion thanks to their personal energy shielding, but they were quickly dispatch by Jun's sniping. April reported that they were sending in Wraiths supported by Ghost. Jun turned to the Marine sniper with him. "Get back to the installation and bring back as many rocket launchers and Spartan Laser's as you can carry."

"There won't be a need to; I brought a whole bunch of weapons with me the first time. Heath suggested that we use the ruins to slow them down and keep them at bay for as long as we can." The Marine sniper said. They began placing the different weapons at different points and they were each carrying two primary and two secondary weapons. They placed mines in different places to confuse the Covenant when they would start to hit them. April reported the Wraith, and a couple of Shadows, were getting closer to the ruins. Jun understood the Covenant intentions, and he is sure that Colonel Heath knows what they were planning to do as well. They were going to put ground troops into the area to clear the ruins of any UNSC personal. Jun contacted the military installation and asked the colonel to send him some additional troops to help hold the ruins for a while. The colonel sent three ODSTs to help out as Lucy and several Marines were still busy working on the Mass Driver. They go through the Covenant staging area that was destroyed by the two airstrikes to see if anything survived the bombardment and found some Covenant weapons, including trip mines. They wished that some of the Covenant vehicles weren't destroyed so that they could be used as well. The five men got into position to wait for the Covvies to enter the ambush site. A squad of Ghosts was the first to enter the ambush site. An ODST armed with an M6A3 Light Machine Gun opened fire on the Ghosts, firing two 200 round magazines at them. He reloaded the Light machine gun a third time, but had to fall back towards another position because three more squadrons of Ghosts enter the fray. He led them into a narrow corridor of ruins and disappeared, leaving the Ghosts pilots to see it's a dead end. All of sudden explosives were detonated, taking the Ghosts and their pilots with them. The UNSC forces did not know that Phantoms were unloaded ground troops not far from the ruins and were making their way on foot. The ground troops consisted of Grunts, Jackals, Skirmishers, Hunters, and Brutes.

Jun saw the Wraiths approaching the ruins so he told the ODSTs armed with M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket launchers to fire on the Wraiths. They even fire the two Spartan Lasers at the Wraiths. Every single Wraith was destroyed, but the distraction worked as the Covenant ground troops were able to get closer to the ruins around the military installation and since the satellites were no longer over the United Kingdom, April couldn't see what the Covenant were doing. Two teams of ODSTs were checking the ruins for Covvies that manage to get into the ruins, preposition motion sensors have gone off in different locations, warning them. One team of ODSTs were ambush by two dozen Covvies, mostly Brutes leading a small contingent of Grunts. The Grunts were easily wiped out in the counter-attack. The ODST's were slaughtered, but they didn't go down without one hell of a fight. A couple of Brutes died with the ODST's knives in their hearts when they charged them. A Hornet flew in and delivered a barrage of missiles onto the covenant, inflecting heavy casualties before a squadron of Banshees entered the battle. The Hornet nailed five of the Banshees before headed back to the installation leading the Banshees after him, which is a mistake on their part as the installation's anti-air batteries blow the remaining Banshees out of the sky. The UNSC defenders in the ruins held off eight Covenant assaults with everything they could bring to aim on the enemy, including long range artillery bombardment of the ruins. Several Marines were killed by friendly fire, but a majority of them survived the bombardment by seeking shelter in basements and old bomb shelters before pulling back to the military installation. Jun left some surprises for the Covvies that had they make their way through the ruins. This time though, the Elite General in charge of the Covenant forces in Manchester did not send in any vehicles to attack the military installation, except for some Banshees and Seraph fighters. They attacked twice and were beaten back both times and on the third assault Hornets, Vultures, Falcons, and Pelicans arrived and drove the Covenant back and then out of the ruins, causing the Covenant to retreat back to their cruiser. Master Chief John-117 and the officer in charge of the UNSC Armed Forces in Manchester came up to the Colonel and told him of their actions prior to their arrival at the installation.

The Master Chief then explained how he escaped the cathedral and what happen until he reunited with Colonel Heath-118. The Master Chief and his team were on their own at the cathedral and were still holding off the Covenant forces attacking them. They managed to destroy all the Shades, so now the Covenant were bringing in tanks. The Wraith tanks fired their deadly plasma at the cathedral, creating holes in the walls of the cathedral. One of the Marines armed with a Spartan Laser charged the laser and fired it at one of the tanks, destroying it. A Marine fired a rocket launcher at one of the tanks destroying it. The Covenant had tried to take the cathedral five times, and each time they were beaten back. Covenant bodies and destroyed vehicles littered the battlefield vehicles. The cathedral was defended by multiple machineguns, there was even a Gauss cannon that they had taken off a Warthog, but they don't have much ammo for the weapons. The Master Chief knew that they had to get out of the cathedral before they run out of ammo. A Marine came up to the Chief and told him that there's a basement with a tunnel that lead well outside of the Covenant forces. The Chief called in an airstrike to help cover the withdraw, which he got. They gathered the wounded Marines and whatever weapons they could carry. Two Marines were armed with rocket launchers and were carrying as much ammo for the rocket launchers as they could carry, include their BR55 Battle Rifle and their sidearm. Tom grabbed the Spartan Laser and his MA5B assault rifle. They headed down into the basement, and once everyone is in the basement, they seal the heavy blast door. They enter the tunnel one at a time as the airstrike was striking the Covenant positions. A few Marines remained behind inside the cathedral to keep the Covenant busy, as well as make the Covenant forces believe that UNSC forces were still in the cathedral. Every Marine that stayed was killed when the Covenant launched an all-out attack on the cathedral. They knew exactly where they were going, so they headed in the direction of the military installation. All of the vehicles were destroyed; so they had to travel on foot. The tunnel was built during World War 2 as an air raid shelter, so they saw storage rooms filled with all sorts of different things. "Where does this come out at?" Master Chief asked.

"At a hospital," the Marine sergeant replied. They entered the hospital and found it full of wounded soldiers and civilians. They made their way to the exit and found that the Marines and Army soldiers had set up a perimeter around the hospital. The Chief saw several warthogs with different weapons on them, including some Rocket Hogs. They even had a couple of Scorpions, Grizzly's, and Wolverines to knock enemy aircraft out the sky. The Chief asked them if they can barrow a couple of the Warthogs but they only give the Chief one Warthog with a Gauss Cannon so only Tom, the Chief and one Marine were able to go. April reported that the Covenant troops were moving towards the hospital. A flight of Hornets and Falcons landed on one of the hospital's couple landing pads. The Hornets then headed in the direction of the Covvies to harass them. A Marine colonel then appeared out of the hospital with his right leg injured. Master Chief was about to get into the Warthog when the Marine colonel came up to him.

"Master Chief, I need your help defending this hospital from attack!"

"No problem colonel, I'm glad to help," Master Chief said. "What do you need done?"

"The Covenant are falling back to their ship." A Major that had just walked up to them said.

"We must pursue them and take back Manchester."

"First we need to get to the military installation," the Chief said. Everybody then boarded the Warthogs, Scorpions, Grizzly, Falcons, Pelicans, and Hornets. They then headed out to the military installation and had to fight several Covenant road blocks to get there. They made it to the installation with only two Hornets, four Warthogs, and one Falcon taken out of the fight.

Colonel Heath decided to take out the cruiser over Manchester, which should put a stop to the Covenant occupation of Manchester. April told them that the satellites were back online and she sends the images to the colonels HUD. He saw that the area around the stadium was surrounded by Covenant. They had several anti-air guns sat up, consisting of Mantis and Tyrant turrets and Anti-Air Wraiths. There were numerous Ghosts patrolling around the stadium and even several Scarabs and Locusts around the area that were properly going to be use level the city.

"We must first neutralize the Anti-air emplacements so we can get some assistance from the UNSC Air Force and Navy." Heath told them. "We're going to split into three groups and attack the emplacements with vehicles and on foot. How many Marines are left to fight the Covenant here in Manchester?"

"Over three hundred, but we should be getting reinforcements soon." the Marine colonel told him.

"We won't be getting reinforcements as long as those emplacements are operational, they will only be able to enter the city on vehicles or on foot." Heath got into a Grizzly tank and led the tanks straight down the middle to keep the Covenant occupied while the chief and the Marine colonel attacked from the sides. Thanks to the civilians in Manchester, he and the others knew the Covenant locations before the Covenant would know theirs. The commander of the Covenant troops in Manchester sent a squadron of Ghost and Wraiths to deal with the attacking Grizzly tanks. Seven Warthogs were accompanying the Grizzlies. The Ghost's are the first to enter the fray, but are quickly dealt with by the combined firepower of the Grizzlies and the Warthogs. The Wraiths fired their plasma mortars at them, but many just sailed right over the UNSC vehicles. The Grizzlies fired their primary armament at the Wraiths, destroying the entire squadron with only one Grizzly and two Warthogs destroyed. They continued on to the stadium when a squadron of Banshees was sent in to destroy the UNSC vehicles, but they didn't even have a chance as the Wolverines and Warthogs blow them out of the sky. Hornets, Vultures, Falcons, Longswords, and Pelicans were waiting for the signal to launch their attack.

A transport ship was enroute to Manchester England airport to deploy two mobile MAC guns to destroy the enemy cruiser above the stadium. The transport is only armed with Archer Missiles, point defenses turrets, and railguns. They aren't arm with any MAC Guns as they are used to deploy infantry and vehicles. They do have a contingent of Longswords, Shortswords, and Sabers to provide air support, which were all launch to clear the skies of enemy aircraft. Many Banshees, Phantoms, Sprits, and Seraphs were blown out of the sky. The transport unloaded the two Mobile MAC Guns and some additional support. Heath hears reports coming over the comms that a majority of the anti-air installations had been taken out. The mobile MAC guns were already in position, and the support units have taken out numerous Covenant vehicles and ground troops. The MAC guns fired a salvo of rounds at the Covenant ship, which causes the ship to explode and taking the stadium with it. The remaining Covenant forces were dealt with, but a large force of Covenant ground and airborne troops headed towards London, England.

"Reinforcements from France have arrived, now it's time to take London back." Heath informed everybody, earning a cheer from the men around him.

* * *

 **Author Note: I like to think all those who have review, favorite or follow this story. I also like to shout out to thearizona for his continuing beta-reading. Kiloactueal for his review, D4thknight for his review, LoyalODST for his, and their help for ideas and new character ideas.**


	16. Chapter 16: Battle of London Part 1

**Author Note: I like to think my beta reader thearizona. i also like to think everyone who favorite and follow this story i also like to think Spartan298, all the others for their reviews and ideas for other chapters for the story. i like to think everyone who has reviewed this story. Spartan298, , and KiloActual and Loyal ODST and De4thKnight for their ideas and using their own halo characters which will appear in later chapters. if you would like for your own Halo character to appear in the story PM me. If you haven't reviewed this story please do so i appreciate all the reviews, favorite and follows.  
**

* * *

The Battle for the United Kingdom

Part 1

London, England

 **24 hours before Colonel Heath-118 and the rest arrived in Manchester, England.**

Six UNSC Army soldiers were inside the security station that guarded the entrance to the UNSC National Museum in London. They've had nothing to ever since they took over for the last guards as their job was to care of the visitors coming into the museum, but due to the invasion, there are no visitors. They were now there to make sure that if the Covenant attacked the city, didn't get any important relics from within the museum. The soldiers assigned to the museum for this watch were First Sergeant Barnes, Staff Sergeant McKay, Sergeant Dave, Corporal Sandman, Corporal Bane, and Private First Class Linda Walker. They were playing poker when they heard explosions outside. They come out of the security station to see a Covenant ship appear right above Buckingham Palace.

"We're totally fucked now," Private First Class Linda Walker said.

"I don't want to die," Corporal Bane whined to the others.

"We're all going to die man," Sergeant Dave said. First Sergeant Barnes and Staff Sergeant McKay turned back towards the three FNG's and tried to reassure them, even though it was pointless. They watched as Banshees, Phantoms, and Sprits left the Covenant ship before running back into the security station to grab their DMRs. They hurried back out and that was when the Banshees decided to strafe the area. First Sergeant Barns pushed two of his fellow soldiers out of the way of deadly plasma, but he wasn't so lucky. His buddies rushed to his side, but he was already dead by time they reached him.

"I'm going to kill every last Covenant I see," Staff Sergeant McKay said. They looked up and saw drop pods similar to the ones the ODSTs use, but bigger, falling from the sky. The drop pods touched the ground and out came Brutes. The Army soldier's fired at them, aiming for their heads, but more pods kept dropping. Four Warthogs, along with an armored vehicle, appeared with London Police Force on the sides. The Warthogs were only equipped with the miniguns, but that still kept the Brutes from overwhelming their position. They started to hurry the civilians into the museum and as soon as the Brutes got themselves organized, that is when the trouble began. Many of the London Police Officers were cut down by the Brutes. A War Chieftain appeared and broke every bone in one of the Police officer's body before bringing his foot down onto the young man's head. His partner fired round after round into the War Chieftain, revenge for the death of his partner and best friend on his mind. Finally, the War Chieftain dropped dead just as he ran out of ammo in his M4A9, a variant of the old American M4 carbine that had been upgraded to hold 76 armor-piercing rounds. He reloaded and nailed two more Brutes, ten Grunts and one Jackal whose back was to him. They were pushed into the museum by the Brutes, who were joined by Grunts, Jackals, and Skirmishers. The Grunts were easy to kill, but they attacked in large groups ranging from 6 to a couple hundreds and sometimes a couple thousands. A Brute flung a Spike Grenade at Sandman, but he ducked and it hit a pillar behind him, showering him with shrapnel. "Mother Fucker!" He yelled and fired his MA5B at him. The Brute fired its Spiker at him, but misses him before Sandman killed him. They entered the museum and closed the huge iron doors just as several Brutes ran into them. Though just before the doors fully close, a spike from one of the Spiker hit Sandman in the shoulder. "Fuck, after being shot at by these things and not getting hit, I'm the one that gets hit just as we get to a safe location?" He said. One of the civilians was a doctor and she used the soldier's med kit to remove the Spike from his shoulder. Staff Sergeant McKay walked up to the wounded soldier.

"How is he doing doc?" McKay asked.

"He'll live, I removed the spike but it wasn't easy."

"Thanks doc," he turned to Sandman. "Can you still fight?"

"Sarge, it will take more than that to stop Sandman," he replied with a smile on his face. The Sarge had a smile on his face too.

"We need to secure the museum against any Covenant intrusions," Staff Sergeant McKay said to him.

"Sir yes sir," the UNSC Army soldiers replied. They went through the museum, checking every entrance. Staff sergeant McKay went over to the sergeant in charge of the London Police Force that answered their call for help.

"Thanks for the help, those Warthogs really saved our bacon and I appreciate it a whole lot. I'm sorry about your fellow officers though; I know how it feels to lose people." He said.

"Fuck you soldier boy, we're stuck in here while those things run around our city killing everyone they see," the Police officer said.

"We don't know that, but if they are killing every one, then we will fucking find a nuke and destroy that ship hovering above our city." He paused to collect his thoughts. "Now we need to secure this building and there's a lot of area to cover and we're going to need every son of bitch we can get, including civilians, to help keep the Covenant from getting in here. Now if you're finished bitching, let's do our jobs and see if we can all return home to our families in one piece. First let's go get a head count." Staff Sergeant McKay counted five soldiers including himself, a dozen Police Officers, six museum security guards and three dozen civilians. He was surprise to find out that a majority of the civilians were kids. Staff Sergeant McKay knew that the museum had Covenant weaponry in glass cases, so he went over to them and broke the cases. One of the museum security guards just stared at him. "What the fuck are you waiting for? Break the other cases, we need the weapons." He checked out some of the Covenant weapons and some were depleted, but others still have some power left in them. He gave them to the older civilians as a couple of them were older vets of the Human-Covenant War. One of them was an officer in the UNSC Navy so Staff Sergeant McKay saluted him.

"Sir, if you wish to take over command, I'll give it to you sir."

"No, sergeant I'm retired, you're in command but we'll give you all the help we can?"

"Thank you sir," he replied. "We need to patrol the halls of the building and keep the entrance secure. The weak point is the loading dock so I want three people guarding that entrance." He looked at one of the police officers who was holding a gun bag. "What do you have in their?"

"It's my custom sniper rifle. I have an awesome scope that has night vision, thermal, and just a regular scope. I can see targets with the thermal scope through solid objects. It has a 12 round magazine and I have six extra magazines." The Police officer told him and Staff Sergeant McKay looks at his name tag and sees that his name is T. Jenkins.

"Alright Jenkins, I want you on the roof watching the enemy, but be careful they will have their own snipers. Sandman will be assisting you." T Jenkins and Sandman headed to the roof. McKay divided the team up so they could patrol the museum. McKay had been trying to reach other units, but no communications were working, not even the hard line. "What the fuck, we can't raise anyone outside of this museum, not even over the hardline. We are completely cut off from the rest of the world."

"Fuck, that's serious," several of the others who heard him over the coms replied.

"Jenkins report, what's going on outside?"

"The Covies are massing a huge force outside and they have already surrounded the museum and are constructed barricades. They have tanks out there."

"Fuck me, once those tanks start to fire we'll be completely fucked," Sergeant Bane said.

"Yes sergeant I know," he said. The Covenant started to attack so everybody with a gun fired onto the Covenant infantry that were attack. They beat the first assault back, but the Covenant attacked again. Shades fired at the museum windows to try and keep the human's heads' down, but a few rockets hit the Shades and silenced them. The second assault was also beaten back with zero human casualties. It was then that the tanks started to fire their plasma mortars.

 **Buckingham Place 1 minute after radar detected a Covenant ship:**

Buckingham Place Security troops looked up and saw the Covenant Battlecruiser hovering right above them. All of a sudden a beam came down in front of the gate and a dozen Grunts and Jackals descended with around twenty-four Elites. The Queens Guard and other security forces stationed nearby opened fire and the first assault is a complete slaughter. The battlecruiser fired around a hundred drop pods which heading for different areas of the city, but fifteen headed straight for the palace. More Covenant troops descended from the ship, along with some Hunters. The Hunters destroyed the vehicles. The drop pods crashed into the palace walls, breaking through. Several security guards were there to meet them, but they weren't expecting the Elites who overwhelm them. The surviving soldiers outside of the gate began retreating while auto-turrets cover them. However, they had no clue that Sangheili Spec-Ops had used the drop pods to gain entrance into the place and were making their way to the control room. The Palace Security stood no chance. The Queen's Guard were busy outside dealing with the Covenant troops disembarking from the hovering ship. Luckily, a dozen Orbital Drop Shock Troopers on leave were touring the palace when the Covenant decided to attack. They headed towards the armory, but were stopped by one of the guards. They took matters into their own hands and knocked him out and retrieved weapons and gear before they headed to the control room to make sure it stayed secure, since it controlled all of the palace security measures. They saw dead Queen's Guard and Buckingham Palace security on their way, with a few Covenant bodies mixed in, but only four Spec-Op Elites. They went around a corner and spotted two Elites. They opened fire, dropping him with their overwhelming firepower. The second Elite turned towards them and opened fire, but missed. They tossed a flashbang, blinding the Elite and he too is taken care of. They proceeded on and encounter a few more Elites, each one quickly dealt with. They're joined by a dozen or so of Queen's Guard. They saw the Elites trying to gain access to the control room and opened fire on the Elites, taking care of them. One of the Queen's Guards knocked on the door and gave the password. The heavy doors opened and they all rushed inside. "Lock this place down," the guard said. The operator nodded and tapped on his computer screen. "Lockdown in 14 seconds." The Queen's Guard were forced back into the palace or else get locked outside and heavy doors sealed the entrance. Elsewhere, other heavy doors sealed all doors and windows, placing the palace is lockdown. They began clearing the place of any Covenant stragglers. The Covenant drop pods had mostly crashed through windows, but with them now sealed, they wouldn't be able enter the palace that way. Covenant soldiers were still pouring off the ship and they surrounded the palace. The people inside the palace knew it was only a matter of time before the Covenant would cut their way through the plating, so they began preparing barricades. They could hear the plasma fire hitting the palace walls.

 **Forty-Six Minutes after the Covenant invaded the United Kingdom:**

On the outskirts of London England was a UNSC Army installation which covered two acres and was surrounded by abandoned buildings. Several minutes before the Covenant began their attack on London, Staff Sergeant Eric Haze took a deep breath as he left the barracks to make sure that the soldiers on duty hadn't fallen asleep. He had just lost a game of poker to some privates and lost all his pay for the month. He had been in the UNSC Army for 5 years and had never fought the Covenant and he couldn't believe it when he heard that the Covenant has invaded Earth again. All UNSC forces were on high alert, but so far no Covenant have attack England yet. Most of the soldiers' stationed at the military installation were new recruits, along with about a dozen veterans from the first Human-Covenant War. Since almost everyone station at the installation were new, including officers, they have been doing endless drills practicing different scenarios in case the Covenant ever attacked the United Kingdom.

Major Tom Mason was one of the veterans from the first Human-Covenant War so command place him in charge of the Army soldiers in London. Major Tom Mason was a member of the 2nd Special Forces Division in the Human-Covenant War but that was back when he was a colonel. He was a highly decorated soldier during the war. After one of his missions against the Covenant, he went up to his commander after his orders had cost the lives of half his company and blew the man's brains out. HighCom could have had him shot but they didn't, but of course Colonel Heath-118 came to his defense. He will never forget the Spartan who save his bacon twice. A squad of Army Special Forces under the command of Sergeant Major Harvey Johnson was assigned to his command. He's glad they're not at the base right now. He just came out of his own barracks with the other officers of Bravo Company sleep. He is part of the UNSC Army 18th Division stationed throughout Europe. After the first war with the Covenant, HighCom decided that every city throughout Earth would be defended by a small detachment of troopers. He knew that there was a large Marine base outside of London and an Army airbase in Scotland. He remembered fighting the Covenant and how hard many of their species were to kill and the sacrifice of the Spartans, but now the Covenant were back and having only attacking Alamo Base, Fort Augusta in the URNA, and a few other locations, he got this feeling that they were just getting started. He saw something appear from the sky and he recognized it immediately as a Covenant ship, but the ship wasn't powering up weapons at all. He headed for one of the bases four towers and grabbed the binoculars from a private watching the skies for Covenant ships.

Most of his men were still in their bunks except for a small number of soldiers making sure the vehicles were ready to go at moment notice or on guard duty. He saw Phantoms, Spirits, and Banshees being launched so he ran into the headquarters where his fellow officers were drinking and playing cards, not knowing what's going on until their major comes in yelling, "Covenant Ship over London! We have Banshees and drop ships inbound." Everything is quiet for a moment they all thanking it's a joke that the major is playing on them. "What, you stupid son of bitches thinks I'm fucking kidding! Why you don't take a look outside for yourselves then?" They went outside and saw the Covenant ship.

"Holy Fuck," they said together. The major looked at his fellow officers who didn't have a clue what to do.

"I want everyone awake and armed, get those Triple-A batteries online and get the MASS Driver online. I want soldiers equip with Rocket Launchers on the walls and fire teams in the logical approaches to the base on the ground. Get in contact with the Marines, we're going to need some help." Several of the veteran NCOs were already awake and gathering the men and sending them straight to the armory to gear up. Major Mason hurried to grab his rifle from the armory and the Triple-A batteries began firing just as the major walked it to the armory. He takes his DMR from the weapons rack before grabbing some fragmentation grenades. "Hurry up, I bet the Covenant will turn this armory into a huge powder keg. Now get everything out before they destroy it or we won't be able to help any civilians!" He ran out and headed to the motor pool to get every vehicle they had out of it before the Covenant could destroy it. The installations Artificial Intelligence fired the MASS Driver at the approaching dropships. That is until one of the covenant ship's armaments turned towards the base and turned the MASS Driver into molten slag which then fell onto the armory and part of the installations walls. "Check and see if there are any survivors and I want those damn Banshees taken out now!"

His men go to work; and even though they were green, thanks to the endless hours of drills they did what they had to do. The skies were full of Covenant aircraft. Banshees speed around the base, looping and diving to avoid being hit by the rockets, but the Triple-A batteries tracked them and destroyed them. The commander of the Covenant forces orders his troops to deploy further away from the base and for the Banshees to return to the ship. Major Tom Mason knows that they won't be able to hold the base from a large Covenant assault. He can hear the sounds of gunfire in the distance, apparently the London Police Force was putting up a good fight. They managed to save a large portion of the weapons and ammo from the armory before it was destroyed. They even mange to salvage a couple of Wolf Spiders. They only vehicles they had were Warthogs, 2 Scorpion MBTs, and three APCs. The APCs were heavily armored, having gun ports for the infantry inside, several large caliber guns, a cannon for dealing with enemy armor and on top of that they can hold eighteen men apace. A voice appears over the radio from an officer in the London Police Force, but the officer wasn't talking to him.

"Be advise all officers in London we were evacuating the civilians to the train stations so they can escape to the countryside but the Covenant are proving to be a pain in the ass, therefore we are going to form a perimeter around the central train station that all trains pass through and send them out different directions. We need help from any UNSC personnel in the city." Major Tom Mason took a minute to think about what to do; according to the reason why they were station in London was to protect the civilians if the Covenant attacks, he decided to help the London Police Officers. They heard gunfire outside of the base so he knew that the units he has out there were engaging the Covenant. He ordered them to fallback and board vehicles because they were leaving the base. He told the A.I. that once they leave the base, to level it and gave her the password that allowed her to complete the final command. They left the installation as fast as they could and he wasn't surprise to see the Covenant outside of the base waiting for them, but they wouldn't, and didn't stop. The two tanks were clearing a path for them. They destroyed four Wraith tanks, three Revenants, and numerous Ghost, Prowlers, and Choppers. The gunners on the Warthogs fired and the troopers in the transport hogs open fire while the drivers ran many Covenant troops down. Soldiers equipped with rockets fired at the Hunters that tried to block their paths. Once they were a good way away from the base, it detonated and incinerating any Covenant troops near it. They headed in the direction of the central train station. They had encounter small resistance from Banshees and a few Covenant vehicles, mostly Ghost and Choppers when they were joined by a squad of marines on Gungooses.

Elsewhere, Staff Sergeant Malesia Meyer was in her apartment enjoying some time off when she heard explosions. She thought it might be some terrorist causing some problems until she turns on her screen and sees a shot of the Covenant Battlecruiser hovering above Buckingham Place. Reports were saying that the UNSC and London Police Officers were working hard to repel the invaders. She knows for a fact that the number of the UNSC soldiers within London were extremely light as most were outside of London and Manchester so the only real defense London had been the Queen Guards and the London Police Department. She went to the window and watched a flight of four Banshees fly pass her window with several Sparrowhawks chasing them with four additional Banshees behind them. She knows that the UNSC have setup small arms lockers around the city to arm the inhabitants in case of an enemy attack. UNSC Marines were assigned to guard them but she has no clue where they were. She goes over to the gun cabinet that she has in her apartment and inside were weapons from the 20th and early 21st Century which have been handed down through her family. She grabs magazines for her M1911 and AK-47 and loads the weapons. She exited her apartment and some people were outside of their own apartments so she told them to get back into their apartment and lock the doors. She was headed down the stairs when she heard another explosion which sounded much closer. She exited from the apartment building to see a battle erupting around her apartment complex. The Queen's Guard were putting up a hell of a fight.

The Tower of London is close to her and the triple-A batteries were firing non-stop. Phantoms and Sprits were dropping off troops and vehicles. She spotted a Warthog with a lone soldier operating the gun until a Hunter blew it apart up. A squad of Covenant soldiers were moving towards her position so she headed back upstairs. A few civilians trying to cross the street were eliminated by a gang of Brutes. A Brute Captain ordered the squad to check the buildings for hostiles. They entered Staff Sergeant Meyer's apartment complex as a Wraith pulls up outside supported by two Spectres. The Grunts, Jackals, and Brutes began entering the complex and when they broke into the apartments she could hear the screams of the occupants, then only silence. She even heard gunfire from some residence's shotguns. A Grunt was climbing the stairs and she used the butt of the AK-47 to smash in the Grunt's skull just as a second Grunt appeared behind the first, so she shot him in the head. A Brute spotted her and fired up at her, missing by inches. He told the others to follow him as they chased after the Staff Sergeant. She entered the floor her apartment is on with the Covenant were right on her heels. She entered her apartment before spinning and nailing three Grunts and one Brute before they could open fire at her. Somebody exited from their apartment so she shouted a warning, but it was too late as a Brute filled the civilian with spikes before she moves further into her apartment. As a Brute entered she killed him with a headshot and took cover as additional Brutes, Grunts, and Jackals entered. All of sudden she heard gunfire and the sound of breaking glass.

"Ma'am were you alright?" She heard before getting up and seeing four Spartans standing in her apartment.

"Yes I'm fine, thank you," she replied. "There are more outside."

"There were more," another Spartan corrected her.

"Ma'am we're evacuating all civilians in this area to the nearest train station," another Spartan said.

"I'm not a civilian," she replied.

"We're well aware of who you are," the same Spartan said.

"Who are you?" He didn't answer. "I ask you a question Spartan." He still didn't answer. "Spartan, who are you?" He still didn't answer her. They left the apartment and as they get outside she heard vehicles pulling up. Major Matthew Baker got out of one of the APCs and one of the Spartans went up to him.

"Nice work lieutenant commander this area is secure for the moment," he said to the Spartan Team Lance CO.

"Sir, some of these people require medical attention. Apparently some of the Brutes decided to rape a few of the women while they watch their love ones, including the kids, being slaughtered."

"We'll make them pay," Baker replied. When Staff Sergeant Meyer exited from the building she saluted the major and identified herself. "You're not the only UNSC soldier on leave we've encountered." He said before turning to a lieutenant. "Lieutenant, get this trooper a proper weapon and some gear."

"Yes sir," the lieutenant replied before handing her a DMR and some gear.

"Where did you get all these weapons sir?" She asked seeming all the extra weapons they had with them being handed to civilians.

"We have raided all the small-arms lockers along our way and have been drafting civilians to help us take the city back." They moved out once the last civilian was loaded. A Mantis moved ahead of them along with Spartan Team Lance.

Onboard the Covenant Battlecruiser hovering above London, the Sangheili Shipmaster was received reports from the surface when a Sangheili General looked at him. "What your orders shipmaster?"

"Have our troops take up positions around any target that may hold Forerunner Artifacts and in areas the humans may use to take back the city," the shipmaster said.

"What about the civilian population?"

"Let them leave; we'll need them after we take this planet. These are the orders of the hierarchs."

"As you command," the Sangheili General replied.


	17. Chapter 17: Battle of London Part 2

**Author Note: this chapter begins right where the last chapter ended.**

Chapter 17

First Battle of London

Part 2

 **One Hour after the invasion of London:**

Covenant troops managed to quarantine the city, despite the UNSC's, Queen's Guard's and London Police Force's best efforts to stop them, so now they're focus on protecting the civilian population as only a few areas still remained in human hands. Colonel Urban Holland decided to send help as he commanded the 19 Infantry Division, one of the closest Army Division near London. He also had tactical command of two Spartan teams, designated Spartan Team Lancer and Spartan Team Hades. Bravo Company and Lima Company were both moving up the road towards the city with Falcons, Phoenix's, Longswords, A-11s, Sparrowhawks, and Pelicans in support. Colonel Urban Holland was receiving reports for Major Mason who was moving towards the central station to begin evacuating civilians from the city. They had encountered heavy resistance but were still managing to inflict heavy casualties and cleared out several Triple-A batteries so the reinforcements following behind them wouldn't have a hard time. A lot of the Falcon's, Phoenix's, Pelican's, Longsword's and other aircraft were still shot down over the city though.

Lima Company managed to secure two train stations and started evacuating the civilian population until the city was once again in human hands. Bravo Company were forced to abandon their vehicles and proceed to London's ONI Alpha Site on foot but they never made it. Colonel Urban Holland had set up his HQ in one of the Skyscrapers, despite the Covenant Battlecruiser which was ignoring everything; they just launched Seraph and Banshees to deal with the UNSC aircraft since they knew the humans don't have anything to bring them down. Colonel Holland sent reconnaissance patrols into occupied London to determine the enemy strength around Parliament, the Palace and a few other places. They knew the UNSC forces within those areas were keeping them at bay, though for now their main priority is to evacuate the civilians. He could hear the sound of fighting throughout London and He wondered if his division would receive any help from the other UNSC forces near London. Until then they'll fight and hopefully keep the Covenant from getting a huge foothold in the city.

 **Two hours after the invasion of London:**

At Camp Hercules five miles outside of London England, the marines saw the Covenant ship over London, they heard reports coming over the radio. "The Covenant is clearing out everything within a 6 block radius between the palace, Parliament, and the UNSC museum. We need help. I'm trapped at a pharmacy, it's me and six of my fellow officers along with a dozen civilians. we are pinned down by snipers and by something I've never seen before. Oh My God they were bringing in a tank. Please God help us…" All they could hear were screams after that. The marines were balling their hands into a fists, ready to go kill some Covenant.

"This is Private Sanchez, Victor squad UNSC Army, we are requesting aid from anyone! The Parliament building is under attack by some never foreseen Covenant species they are really hard to kill. They are like a mix between Elites and Brutes. Please send help!" The transmission suddenly goes dead as the marine's lieutenant colonel entered the room.

"So I see you have all heard the reports coming in, there are a lot of civilians trapped along with the London Police. The police weren't train to fight the Covenant for very long and they don't have the firepower needed to fight them like we do. The army had been giving them hell but they're getting hammered now that the city is once again quarantined by the covenant, nothing gets out unless the Covenant let it. The army controls several positions, mostly to evac civilians. From what we have gathered, those SOBs have only invaded two cities London and Manchester. We haven't been able to reach any units outside of the United Kingdom so all forces within the United Kingdom are being mobilize to retake London and Manchester. We're gearing up to retake London. I want you to get ready to kill these GOD Dam invaders. Now get your asses in gear we have ourselves a battle to win!"

"Sir yes sir," his marines chanted. They hurry off to grab their gear and get ready for some hardcore fighting up ahead. The marines once they grabbed their kit they headed to the armory to grab their weapons, though unlike other bases their armory was underground. The weapon racks consisted of weapons such as the BR85 Battle Rifle, the Designated Marksman Rifle or DMR, many of the MA5 Assault Rifles variants, M4A6 Assault Rifles, SAWs, Rocket Launchers of different types, Spartan Lasers, Magnums, Crossbows, Shotguns, Covenant weaponry, Rail Guns, Grenade Launchers, and Target Locators. The marines picked up what weapons they would need once in the city and on approach to the city. The marines also had vehicles and aircraft consisting of Warthogs, Scorpions, Grizzlies, Elephants, and Mongooses while their aircraft consisted of Hornets, Falcons, and Pelicans. The Lieutenant Colonel had a company of ODSTs known only as Ghost Company, in memory of the marine that died on Algolis protecting the extraction efforts. He gave them their orders. They were going to go to the Parliament building and secure it from the Covenant. Of course it wouldn't be a simple mission if it was going to the ODST's. They'll have to jump from a fast moving Pelican to avoid Covenant anti-air batteries. Once Parliament was secure and the enemy Triple-A batteries nearby dealt with, more marines would arrive and together they would push deeper into London. The ODST's boarded the Pelicans as the colonel told them they had three hours to secure him a beachhead before he ordered an all-out attack on London.

He knew that the civilians must be evacuated as soon as possible to avoid collateral damage so he sent Falcons to the central train station to help the army and the police evac the civilians. He sent the Hornets to provide air support for the Falcons. As soon as the Falcons and Hornets were over the skies of London, the Banshees attacked. The Hornets opened fire, as do the Falcons, but the Falcons weren't there to dogfight with the Banshees, they were there to deposit marines into the city. The Falcons did their best to ignore the Banshees and let the Hornets deal with them, but they weren't getting off easy as the skies were full of Banshees. A Falcon was taken out of the fight by a Banshees' fuel Rod Cannon but the marines inside had parachutes so most of them manage to bail out before the Falcon crashed into the streets below as another Falcon crashed into the river. The Hornets weren't faring any better as a majority of them had been destroyed, but those that have survived were still supporting the Falcons as they approached the central train station. As they approached they came under fire from the Anti-Air Wraiths but they manage to avoid the deadly plasma. The Hornets silenced the Anti-Air Wraiths and they began their descent in the plaza in front of the central train station. The Falcon and Hornet crews were surprised that the Banshees didn't chase them any further, but then they saw the teams in the buildings around the plaza along with the Warthogs protecting the entrance. The Falcons landed while the Hornets remained in the skies to provide air cover. An army major appeared and watched them before the marine's captain walked up to him. "Captain, I'm glad you and your men made it we can sure use your help."

"I'm glad to be here, Lieutenant Colonel Markesan has advised us to give you any help we can."

"I appreciate the help captain; the situation is this we need to evac the civilians but many were being slaughtered on their way here by Brutes. We need to establish muster points to evac the city and try to cut down the number of civilians being murdered. That's why we repurposed all armored vehicles to help with the evac of the muster points, but I need drivers."

"Don't worries Major, me and my boys will handle the muster points; do you need any help here?"

"No we can handle it; just hurry, we don't know when that ship might decide to glass the city." The marines got on board the armored vehicles and headed off. Muster Station 1 was only 2 miles from the train station. Along the way they were shot at by Covenant snipers and they saw plenty of dead bodies, mostly civilians with some police officers here and there. Muster Station 1 was a bus station with a few dozen London Police Officers defending it. Six of the vehicles stop and begin loading civilians into the vehicles after the marines exit from them. The marines then set up a perimeter around the muster station. Once the vehicles were full they headed back to the train station but this time they had Falcon and Hornet support to clear the rooftops of Covenant. The marine captain looked up and saw A-11's and Longsword's in the skies dogfighting underneath the Covenant Battlecruiser. The Army had set up Wolf Spiders around the central train station for extra security. Major Tom Mason received news from the marines and police officers that it will take hours to evac all the civilians. As soon as the trains were full with civilians they headed towards the direction of the countryside. A couple of soldiers were onboard the trains to provide security and try to protect them from any Covenant attack, but none came; even when they passed a large force of Covenant they didn't open fire at them, which is strange for the Covenant since they've been killing them all damn day throughout the city.

The Orbital Drop Shock Troopers of Ghost Company was on approach to the Parliament building and the Pelicans, along with a flight of A-11 fighter jets is accompanying them, were constantly dodging Covenant Anti-Air fire. The major in charge of the company knew the area around Parliament was hot so he ordered the Pelicans to drop them a couple of blocks away from Parliament and they'll make their way to the building on foot. No one was expecting the Seraph fighters as they made themselves known when a Pelican was blown out of the sky but the ODSTs onboard jumping out and pulling their parachutes zip cord before it crashed. The A-11s go off to deal with the Seraph fighters and instead of waiting to reach the LZ, the major gave the order to jump. The Pelicans dropped the Warthogs and Scorpions before the ODSTS jumped. Many of the ODSTs were scatter across London due to the rush. Major Howler landed and saw several of his troopers heading towards him as he set a rally point in a hotel for the rest of his soldiers to join him. Lieutenant Miranda Silvia arrived at the hotel with her platoon and she told the major she has two missing men, thirty minutes later a captain appeared with all of his soldiers accounted for. Now they were waiting for the last platoon to arrive.

Fifty minutes passed before the last platoon arrived with only two dozen soldiers left. The lieutenant in charge told them that they landed right in the midst of Covenant forces and had to fight their way out. Major Howler ordered his soldiers to advance on Parliament and set a rally-point at Parliament for any soldiers that were unaccounted for. It was slow going because they don't know the locations of any of the Covenant forces around Parliament. Twice they were engaged by squad of Grunts led by two Brute Minors, but they were quickly dealt with. Major Howler found some of the vehicles that the Pelicans dropped for them so he used them to augment his men's firepower. The vehicles consisted of three Warthogs and a Scorpion Main Battle Tank. They saw plenty of dead bodies on their way, mostly consisting of civilians, some London Police Force, and even a few Covenant. Major Howler looked at the dead civilians and it made his blood boil. His men continued their advance and they ran into two platoons of soldiers from the 1st Special Forces Division along with a platoon of marines.

"How in the hell did you get in here?" Major Howler asked the marines.

"The colonel got tired of waiting so he sent in a company of marines to push our way through the roadblock to the central train station. We of course ran into several companies of soldiers from the 1st Special Forces Division with armor support in the form of Grizzly Tanks." A sergeant in the marines told Major Howler. Major Howler turns to the officer in charge of the 1st Special Forces Division.

"Captain, what's your story?"

"Well sir, after we lost contact with our outpost on the outskirts of the city. The commander in charge of all the Army units in the UK decided to mobilize the 1st Special Forces Division and we were sent in to help with the evac of the civilians and to destroy the Covenant Occupation Forces. Most of the Pelicans and Falcons were shot down on approach to Manchester and London but there are survivors scattered all across the two cities. The units coming in by land managed to break through the Covenant defenses without heavy losses on our side and rendezvoused with our fellow army soldiers at the central train station. Once at the central train station the Brigadier General sent out units to make contact with any UNSC forces and destroy the Covenant Occupation forces. According to the latest Intel, the Covenant have a jamming device on top of the Parliament and on the UNSC War Museum. We need to neutralize those jamming devices otherwise we can't get reinforcements."

"I'm well aware of the problem captain," he told him. "Now let's get to work!"

"Sir yes sir" both the marine and army soldiers chanted. Major Howler noticed that the 1st Special Forces Division wore helmets similar to the ODSTs helmets. Major Howler stopped two blocks away from Parliament and him and his command team, along with four marines, moved forward to get a better view of the Covenant forces around the Parliament building. Captain Boston of Alpha Company 2nd Platoon 1st Special Forces Division was accompanying them. They entered one of the buildings across from Parliament. Major Howler and several of his men took out binoculars and took off their helmets so they could look through them. They saw a large Covenant force outside of the building as well as Covenant forces attacking the building with gunfire coming from inside the building. Major Howler was glad to know that there were some survivors in the building. He saw something moving across a parking lot towards a group of armed civilians. He thinks it's a pair of Hunters but they're too big to be Hunters. He has no clue what they were, but he knew what they were going to do, but instead it left the civilians alone. A civilian fired his pistol at the creature in fear, but the rounds had no effect on it. The creature turned around and fired some sort of cannon that blew the civilians to shreds. Major Howler began cursing as they watched it happen before going back to rejoin their men. The ODSTs as well as the soldiers from the 1st Special Forces Division could tell that they saw something that shocked them. Major Howler told them that they had witness a new species in the Covenant Empire slaughter a group of civilians before telling them that they'll wait until first light to attack the Covenant troops.


	18. Chapter 18: Battle for London Part 3

Disclaimer: Halo belongs too 343 Industries

* * *

Chapter 18

First battle of London

Part 3

 **Thirty minutes after the ODST's jumped out of the Pelicans:**

Sergeant Cutler, a member of Ghost Company, Bravo platoon, woke up somehow he didn't recognize as he was knocked unconscious. He was hanging from a light pole so he cut himself loose and noticed his drag bag wasn't anywhere to be seen. That meant the only weapons he had were his M6S, and a Suppressed M7 SMG. He saw the rally point on his HUD so he headed in that direction. He was constantly watching for Covenant as he walked closer to the rally point when he came upon a crashed Pelican in a courtyard with Brutes, Grunts and Jackals all around it. He got closer and peeked through a destroyed Warthog. He saw a burned police officer in the driver seat and notice the bodies around him were all police officers. He tried not to barf inside of his helmet. He knew that his SMG wasn't good for long range firing but inside the Warthog he saw the perfect weapon for the job, a Battle Rifle. He knew that the Brutes were the main threat, especially if you can't get them with headshot, so he aimed at the Brute that was not near any of the others and killed him with a headshot. He didn't wait before he began firing on the other Brutes, killing all but one. The other Brute took cover and returned fire with its Covenant Carbine.

The Jiralhanae ordered the Grunts and Jackals to flank the human. Sergeant Cutler knew that if he got flanked he would be done so he ran towards the nearest building and smashed through the glass window. He headed up to the rooftop and he planted a claymore on the stairs leading up to the rooftop in case any Covenant tried to follow him up. He saw the Covenant approaching the position he had just left from multiple locations and he saw two more Brutes and an Engineer had joined them. The two Brutes were in power armor.

"Fuck," he said. "I fucken hate Brutes in that power armor, I have to shoot the fucken armor off before I can kill them." He looked at the ammo counter on the battle rifle and saw it had twelve rounds left, plus he had grabbed a spare magazine from the Warthog. He took aim at the first Brute with armor and fired. It takes two squeezes of the trigger, so six bullets, to finally kill the Brute. He fired again at the second Brute and once again, six bullets took him down and he was reloading when the return fire started to fly by his position. He crawled to another location on the roof and nailed the last Brute. He saw the Grunts and Jackals heading straight for the building, so he shot at them but mostly got Grunts since the Jackal's shield could deflect projectiles, but he manages to shoot through the weak spot in the Jackal's shields and nails one of them by the time the Covvies were inside of the building. He heard the claymore go off so he switched from the now empty Battle Rifle to his SMG. He got to where the door was and waited for the door to open, and when it did two Grunts emerged so he shot them both in the back before he picked up a plasma grenade from one of the dead Grunts and threw it inside the building.

Once the grenade exploded he entered the building and killed the surviving Grunts and Jackals. A Grunt managed to fire a plasma pistol round at Sergeant Cutler before it went down, but he didn't pay any mind to it since his adrenaline was pumping. Once the small fight was over, Sergeant Cutler grabbed the med kit from his backpack. His armor stopped a majority of the plasma, but he still needed to clean it and spray some Biofoam on it. He continued on his way to rejoin with his company. He didn't get very far before he runs into some of his fellow ODST's. The visors depolarized and he looked into their faces. There was Corporal Lee Demolition Expert, Corporal Martha Lee medic, Lance Corporal Addie Hopkins sniper, and Private Bob Stevens Heavy Weapon Specialist, they were all members of his platoon and part of Ghost Company. He knew that none of the ODSTs were green but Bob Stevens was the newest addition to Ghost Company.

"Where did you all come from?" He asked.

"We've been scouting the area near the UNSC Museum. There's a large force of Covenant there and they have Phantoms on the ground." Lance Corporal Hopkins told the sergeant.

"Well then, let's go kick their ass's and see if we can rescue the civilians that are supposed to be there." They headed in the direction of the museum, constantly watching for any Covenant patrols. They had to hide from a patrol of Ghost that was patrolling the city streets but that was all they saw, except for the bodies of the dead civilians. As they neared the buildings on the opposite side of the museum, they saw a few fresh Covenant bodies filled with bullet holes. They examined the bodies and found shell casings nearby.

"Did you see these bodies when you came through here the first time?"

"Sir No Sir," they all answered.

"Then this just happened not too long ago."

"Sir these shell casings are from MP5's and those are standard issue CQB weapons for UNSC Special Forces and Police." Corporal Lee said.

"I see something moving on a rooftop, up there." Lance Corporal Hopkins said while looking through her Sniper Rifle scope.

"Let's go check it out. Formation beta, I want eyes everywhere, I don't want to walk into a Covenant ambush."

"Sir yes sir," they said. They got into formation and made their way towards the building that Hopkins saw something move. They entered the building and were immediately surrounded with barrels pointed right at their heads. Sergeant Cutler recognized thirteen of them as members of the UNSC 1st Special Forces Division. The others were a part of the London Police Forces SWAT team. Sergeant Cutler introduced himself and his men just before a Brigadier General stepped forward. The ODST's snap to attention.

"Sergeant Cutler, I'm commandeering you and your men for a mission of great importance to the United Nations Space Command."

"Sir, what about the museum? Last I heard there were civilians trapped in there along with several of your soldier's sir." Sergeant Cutler said to the Army general.

"They are safely underground. We arrived just as the Wraiths stopped firing at the museum and we watched as the Covenant swarmed into the museum. The last report I got said that they were heading to the underground vault."

"Why would the Covenant worry about damage to the museum?"

"Can you think of any reason why the Covenant would be interested in anything in a museum?" Sergeant Cutler now knew why the Covenant hadn't destroyed the museum, there was a Forerunner Artifacts in there.

"Sir let's see what we can do to stop their search."

"We will sergeant but not during the daytime, we'll wait until nightfall," the general replied.

"Sir Yes sir," he replied. They could hear gunfire coming from the direction of Parliament and throughout the city but they've been hearing the sounds of fighting all day long so it blended into the background.

"I see your fellow Jarheads have engaged the Covenant near Parliament, that should divert Covenant forces from this location to there." They listened to the sounds of gunfire and explosions as a few Covenant patrols passed them by.

 **8 hours after the Covenant invaded England:**

The soldiers inside the palace could hear the Covenant cutting through the doors. The Covenant managed to cut through the doors after hours of working at them. One the doors were blown open, the Palace Security Force, Queen's Guard and UNSC soldiers opened fire. The Covenant bodies piled up so high it made it impossible for more Covenant troops to enter the palace. Wraith tanks opened fire on the palace and it only took a few minutes for the Wraith's plasma mortars to begin creating breech points in the walls, some of the rubble falling onto some of the civilians and military soldiers inside.

"Get those civilians into the panic rooms." A Queen's Guard captain said. The civilians were taken to another panic room where hopefully they'll be safe. All of sudden they heard explosions outside. "What's happening out there?"

"UNSC reinforcements have arrived," a person said.

Major Matthew Baker and his men hit the Covenant forces at the palace hard before they even knew what was going on. Spartan team Lance repelled down from a building behind a Covenant gun emplacement and neutralize the crew before turning the weapon on its own troops. The gun is known as the Type-43, it looked like a shade turret but was designed to fire on both infantry and vehicles. A group of Sangheili tried to take the emplacement back but the Spartans slaughtered them. Two Hunters charged towards them in a full sprint, or what can be considered that for a Hunter. One of the Spartans with an M29 Rocket Launcher fired, obliterating both Hunter's. Major Baker's men formed a perimeter in front of the palace. He knew the Covenant would return once the initial shock was over. One of the Spartan-IVs of Spartan Team Lance noticed figures coming down the gravity lift. The warthog gunners' opened fire, slaughtering most of the enemy infantry before they even had a chance to get out of the gravity-lift. The two Scorpion's fired, obliterating any Hunters. All of sudden one of the Warthogs was destroyed. Five Wraiths, supported by Ghost and Choppers, appeared along the city streets. Major Baker realized the Covenant must've called for reinforcements, that was fine though as they would have to pull them from other areas.

Major Baker ordered his troops to open fire. The Scorpions concentrated their fire on the Wraith tanks while the Warthogs and rocketeers focused on the Ghosts and Choppers. A squadron of Banshees attempted to break the human resistance but the Wolverines and soldiers with anti-air launchers brought them down. A Revenant destroyed another Warthog before a Scorpion destroyed it, but the Scorpion was destroyed by three direct hits from three separate Wraiths. Prowlers, Shadows, and Specters advanced towards the human perimeter with Ghosts and Choppers in support. Three Shadows and a Specter were destroyed as they charged the UNSC lines; A Prowler intercepted another rocket. Major Baker ordered his men to retreat into the palace as drones came flying in and fired Needlers and Plasma pistols down at the humans. A Spartan-IV jumped onto one of the Warthogs and grabbed its M41 Anti-Aircraft gun and opened fire while an ODST covered him with his Battle Rifle; The Drones began dropping like flies. A Chopper rammed the Warthog, destroying itself in the process but the Spartan survived. A dozen Sangheili Ultras charged towards the Spartan and before Major Baker went inside he looked at the Spartan and saw the Spartan nod. The Demon killed six of the twelve Sangheili Ultras before they managed to kill him. Major Baker looked around and started organizing everyone in defensive positions, notably around the breeches before the Covenant launched another assault on the palace. They were expecting the Covenant to send Grunts in first but they instead sent in Jiralhanae in Power Armor first, followed by additional Jiralhanae without power-armor.

Several Security Guards were killed while some ran away and were shot in the back. Major Baker fired at a Brute, stripping him of his power armor and finished him off with a headshot. "Aim for the heads, their weaker there!" Baker said before a spike from a Spiker hit him in the shoulder but he continued to fire, despite the pain. A Brute climbed over the table he was using before picking him up and throwing him back several feet. The Brute headed towards him when a Spartan-IV tackled the Brute and fires is MA5B into the Brute's mouth. Another Brute attacked the Spartan but Major Baker came up behind the Brute and stuck his combat knife into the back of the Brute's neck, shutting its lights off. A Queen's Guardsman was hit in the face by a plasma bolt as he was about to throw a grenade and when his body hit the floor the grenade rolled from his hand, blowing apart a section of the barricade and killing three others Queen's Guard and several Brutes. Additional Brutes entered the palace along with Grunts and Jackals through the busted barricade. Major Baker shot four Grunts in the head before tossing a fragmentation grenade into the mix, killing eight Grunts, Jackals and two dead Brutes. One of Major Baker's men was hit by multiple spikes as others were stabbed by Brutes with their knives or using the bayonet at the end of their Spikers or Brute Shots.

A Hunter burst through a weakened wall and was about to fire until a rocket hit the Hunter, blowing the creature in two and killing a dozen Covenant soldiers who were standing too close. The human was then killed by a Supercombine explosion from a Needler. It was at that point that Major Baker ordered them to fallback. Fighting began to break out through the palace and it soon became hand-to-hand. Sections of the palace with heavy blast doors begin sealing them as they were where the panic rooms, the vault, and a few other important areas. Major Baker, three members of Spartan Team Specter, ten Queen's Guard, three Security Forces, and fourteen UNSC soldiers made it to the sealed sections before they were sealed as the rest continued to fight. Brute's stabbed them multiple times with their knives while others watched and fired at the Brutes, trying to save them but were killed in the process. Auto-turrets come online to clear the area. A Spartan-IV assisted by three Queen's Guardsman were holding a section with the auto-turrets help. They were overrun in the end as a Sangheili Field Marshall entered the palace. Two Sangheili Generals and a Jiralhanae Chieftain came up to him.

"Have you secured the palace yet?" It asked the three.

"No, the humans have sealed much of the palace and we're still mopping up human stragglers that failed to enter their safe areas. Once we finish then we will begin cutting our way through to the sealed areas," a Sangheili General said. With a nod the Field Marshall turned and walked away.

Sergeant Major Harvey Johnson and his two platoons were making their way back to London from a training mission outside of London to keep their skills sharp. Sergeant Major Harvey Johnson had been in the UNSC Army for a long time. His brother, Sergeant Major Avery Johnson, was killed in the Human-Covenant War and he was only a corporal when the Covenant invaded Earth the first time. He had heard the stories surrounding his brother and his death, but a Spartan had told him the truth and also that he was a very good friend and his death had affected everyone that had known him. He served with Major Tom Mason when the major was a part of the 2nd Special Forces Division. He respected Tom Mason since he saved his life during the first Human-Covenant War. He thought back to then, their company had been ordered to attack a large Covenant encampment along with several other companies. Their entire company, along with the others, were completely wipe out and only the then Colonel Tom Mason, Corporal Harvey Johnson, a lieutenant they called Heavy, Private First Class Terry Ervin, Sergeant Cameron, Private Mike, Private Dan, Private Irish, and Corporal Lunchmeat survived. They got to a military outpost and were surrounded by Covenant forces and had to fight off several assaults until dropships arrived to evac them at the cost of four soldiers. He remembered his teammates and those that were killed because of their commander and he believed that Tom made the right decision. His thoughts were interrupted by Staff Sergeant Ivan.

"Hey Sarge, parts of London are on fire," Staff Sergeant Ivan said. Sergeant Major Johnson looked in the direction that he was pointing and saw the Covenant ship over London.

"Fuck," one of Sergeant Major Johnson's men yelled out.

"Get ready troopers, we're in for one hell of a fight!" Sergeant Major Johnson told them over the coms. The troopers on the back of the Warthogs checked to make sure their Vulcan Machine Guns and the Guess Cannons were fully loaded and ready to go. The rest of the troopers that were not driving checked their assault rifles and DMRs. As soon as they approached one of the entrances to the city, Banshees came in firing their plasma and Fuel Rod Cannons. The drivers did some very good maneuvers dodging the incoming plasma as the gunners returned fire, knocking five of the Banshees out of the sky in the first pass. On the second pass the gunners nail six more Banshees but one Warthog was crippled and the crew managed to bail before a Banshee fires its Fuel Rod Cannon at the cripple Warthog, destroying it. The soldiers that bailed out fired at the Banshees with their assault rifles and DMRs. The other Warthogs continue to engage the Banshees, shooting more down. Two dozen Ghosts then entered the battle, firing their twin plasma cannons at the Warthogs. This forced Sergeant Major Johnson to have to make a decision to either concentrate on the Banshees or the Ghost.

"How many Warthogs do we have left?" He said into his headset. Eight drivers out of the original thirteen, including the Warthog Johnson was in, responded to the call. He told four to focus on the Banshees and the other four to focus on the Ghost. The Guess Cannons made short work of the attacking Ghosts. All of a sudden, plasma mortar blobs began landing all around them. A Warthog was nearly hit by the deadly plasma, causing the vehicle to overturn and flung the passengers clear. They rushed to retrieve any weapons that had survived the crash and luckily the Jackhammer Rocket Launcher had. A Banshee came swooping in but the soldier with the Jackhammer launcher fired and blew the Banshee out of the sky causing the Brute pilot to land on the windshield of the car, dead. Johnson switching from Banshees to Ghost and even to the Brutes that had somehow survived the destruction of their Ghosts. A Wraith fired and Johnson's Warthog was thrown backwards and he was thrown clear of the Warthog. Staff Sergeant Erin came rushing up to him.

"Sergeant Major, are you okay?" Johnson's ears were ringing, he could barely make out the sounds of all the gun and plasma fire. Finally, he could hear Staff Sergeant Erin and he had him help him onto his feet with the assistance of another trooper. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes I'm fine." The other trooper handed him his DMR. He looked through its scope and realized that the Wraiths have stop firing and he could see why, Covenant infantry were heading right for them. A private then came up to them holding a Spartan Laser.

"Hey Sarge I nailed two Wraiths and I manage to shoot down a Banshee; I guess I got lucky."

"There's no such thing as luck private, but good shooting how much charge is left."

"15% Sarge," he replied.

"Save it, switch to your assault rifle," Johnson replied. Johnson heard the crack of the teams' snipers so he knew that he had soldiers engaging the Covenant infantry. Johnson's Heads-Up Display was cracked so he removed his helmet. As he did he notices a majority of his squad were without helmets. He looked around for an exit route and he found it in the form of some stairs. They entered the stairwell one at a time. Johnson decided to lead his surviving squad towards the Office of Naval Intelligence building located in downtown London. Johnson brought up a map on the Taticompad on his wrist and leaded his squad to the nearest exit. As they entered the streets of London they saw the burned out shells of destroyed vehicles, both human and covenant. They also saw plenty of bodies', again both human and Covenant. They made their way towards the Office of Naval Intelligence and had to hide from a Covenant patrol comprised of Brutes and supported by Grunts and Jackals. They reached the Office of Naval Intelligence building and saw that the UNSC forces stationed there had put up one hell of a fight. As they entered the building they saw more Covenant bodies, along with some human bodies. They headed for the central nervous center of the building. All the blast doors had been sealed but some were cut through and others they had to unlock the blast doors manually. They saw plenty of dead Covenant troops but no humans. As they started unlocking the doors to the nerve center a voice came over the Intercom. "Who are you? identify yourself."

 **Hey there, it's Thearizona...you know, the beta reader? Well I hope you all have enjoyed this story so far! I know it's been a pleasure to Beta read. Well I guess I better go back to work! Hi this is Supreme Commander like he said I hope you all enjoy this story. I like to thank everyone who has reviewed, favorite, and followed the story.  
**


	19. Chapter 19: Battle of London Part 4

Battle of London Part 4

"Who are you? Identify yourself!" A voice said over the intercom.

"Sergeant Major Harvey Johnson, 2nd Special Forces Division," he answered. The door opened and the six Marines were looking through the doorway at a squad of Army soldiers. Sergeant Major Johnson and his men entered the nerve center and the door closed behind them and after that a Lieutenant Junior Grade came up to him.

"Glad you guys made it through the Covenant lines. As this building is right in the middle of Covenant occupied territory we've been stuck here and can't risk trying to reach other units in or out of the city because every time we do the Covenant attack until we beat off their assault."

"We still need to call for help though."

"Very well Sergeant Major but what do you suggest we do when the Covenant attack again? In the first three assaults we lost all of our vehicles but we beat off their assaults. The fourth assault drove us into the building while the fifth assault pushed us back to the nerve center with the blast doors sealing behind us and we had to use the hidden turrets to beat the assault back. I only have three dozen men left alive." Sergeant Major Harvey Johnson took a look around at the surviving soldiers and at several dozen too badly wounded to fight. He thought about it for a minute as he looked at the cameras that were still functional in and around the ONI building.

"We trick the Covenant in attacking an area of our choosing and then once all their forces are committed, we destroy the location and kill them all. Hopefully by that time we've already establish contact with other units and can head out to some sort of muster point to retake the city." He said after thinking about it for a minute or so.

"That could work, one of my men can do a fake broadcasting and lure the Covvies into it and then while a distraction team engages the Covenant we establish communications with the command structure within London and find out what our next step should be."

"Well I think we should get to work then. Where do you suggest we lure the Covenant too sir?"

"I say we lure them to an old Subway tunnel a street over that was under construction, it has multiple exit points so the diversion team can escape."

"We just have to make sure that no Covenant escapes."

"We'll make sure to bury them alive sergeant major." They got to work and the Lieutenant Junior Grade and Sergeant Major Johnson divided the soldiers into three squads. Alpha Squads job was to be the diversion and once the real broadcast begin, they were to make sure that the Covenant doesn't find out that the area they're attacking is a fake. Bravo Squad would be responsible for the real broadcast and to defend the Lt. and the communications officer while they make contact with command. Charlie Squads job is to keep the wounded safe until evac can arrive. Sergeant Major Johnson would be with Alpha Squad engaging the Covenant. They found several civilian vehicles that were still functional to transport the different weapons to the diversion site. In the armory of the ONI building they found all kinds of weapons. A brief message came through over their comms as they were packing up the weapons and ammo in the back of civilian transport trucks.

"Attention all UNSC forces within London, we have Covenant jamming devices stationed throughout London. They must be neutralizing before we can make contact with any UNSC units outside of the United Kingdom. Do not respond to any radio messages as Covenant forces are tracing the signals and attacking." There was a short pause follow by the sound of gunfire and the com goes dead. Sergeant Major Johnson and the LT looked at one another.

"So much for Plan A," the LT said.

"Actually Plan A is still a go; we just have to neutralize the jammers first." They heard gunfire and explosions coming not far from their locations. An hour went by and a lance corporal walked up to the LT and saluted him. Johnson looked at the youngster and he looked like he was sixteen and probably fresh out of boot, but his uniform was covered with both Covenant and Human blood.

"Sir, I think we have company coming our way." The Lance Corporal told the Lieutenant.

"Defensive positions," the lieutenant said." They get behind cover and waited. Six figures strolled into view and Sergeant Major Johnson recognized them as Spartans. They introduced themselves as members of Zodiac team. The Lieutenant looked at them and all he knew that they were sent on some highly classified mission in Scotland but that is the extent of his security clearance in ONI. Their visors depolarized and Johnson and the lieutenant saw there was four male and two females.

One of them step forward, "I'm Zodiac One and we will handle the jammers. You just get ready to send that message and tell them to send Spartan support." Zodiac One told them.

"You can't order me around Spartan; I'm a lieutenant in the Office of Naval Intelligence." The Lt. said with an air of authority.

"There you're wrong lieutenant as I'm a Captain in ONI-Section Three." He said. The lieutenant shut up after that. Zodiac One left two Spartans to assist Sergeant Major Johnson as the rest of the Spartans left to go deal with the jammers.

 **Three hours earlier:**

Zodiac team are Spartans-III's that weren't train on Onyx because they were handpicked right out of selection to be a special ops team. At that time Colonel Heath-118 was a Major and had read their files as they were selected for the task since he was in charge of all the Spartans and decided to train them with the help of Master Sergeant Avery Hunter, an old ODST from the most feared ODST Division in the galaxy, the 509th Division. They trained Zodiac team to be the best of the best; though they quickly became more than the UNSC had ever thought possible. They were better train then any of their fellow Spartan-III's and as such were not considered expandable. Zodiac team was highly classified unit that only a very few select people knew about and their deployments where are all through the Office of Naval Intelligence. Zodiac team was on a top secret assignment in Scotland when the call from London that the Covenant was attacking the city came through. Zodiac One had the Pelican pilots turn around and they jumped out of the Pelicans just before a couple Seraph fighters destroyed them. They all survived the crash but Zodiac team instantly came under fire from Grunts and Jackals, which they took out easy. Zodiac team knew that the Covenant were up to something and they needed to find out what, but first they had to hack into the Covenant battlenet and to do that they would need to find a hologram projector to do that. Zodiac One put Zodiac Eight out on point. They could hear gunfire coming from an undiscernible direction just before several distress calls came in over their coms. They decided to go help the troopers that were holed up in the ONI building. As they made their way through the city streets they were constantly watching for the Covenant. Zodiac Eight was on point and he signaled the team to halt so Zodiac One moved forward to see what was up.

"Sir, enemy patrol moving two by two with Brutes leading followed by Jackals and Grunts."

"We'll quietly take them out two at a time, just like a turkey shoot." Zodiac team unsheathed their knives as they approached the unsuspecting Covenant. The Grunts were the first to be assassinated, followed by the Jackals, leaving the Brutes for last. They followed the Brutes till one part of the pack turned around a corner and then the Spartans assassinated the ones that didn't go around the corner. The remaining Brutes entered a Covenant encampment not far from the ONI building. Zodiac One switched to binocular mode inside his visor and saw what they would be up against. He saw Wraiths, Ghosts, Choppers, and Prowlers in the encampment as well as the beginnings of an anti-aircraft emplacement. He also saw plenty of infantry consisting of Brutes, Jackals, Skirmishers, Hunters, and Grunts. They planned to neutralize the Covenant encampment and take out the Anti-Air Battery before moving on. The Tyrant was only halfway done so Zodiac One decided that it would be the best place to hold off the Covenant from while inflecting maximum damage. Zodiac Two and Three were armed with a Jackhammer Rocket Launchers and a M29 respectively. Zodiac Four was armed with the M79 Multiple Grenade Launcher, and Zodiac Five was armed with the Spartan Laser. Needless to say, Zodiac team was packing some seriously heaving firepower, not to mention Zodiac Seven was armed with a SAW Light Machine Gun. Zodiac Eight and Nine were rifleman while Zodiac Ten loved her a good shotgun. They each carrying an assault rifle or Battle Riffle as well as their sidearms. Two members of Zodiac team were snipers so they climbed up onto a nearby roof to provide sniper support. Once they are in position, Zodiac One motioned for the rest of the team to advance. Zodiac Seven entered an unoccupied Wraith and sealed the hatch, waiting for Zodiac One to give the signal as the rest of Zodiac team got into position. Zodiac One then took the Jackhammer launcher from Zodiac Two and fired it at a Hunter.

The missile slammed into the Hunter's back just as the rest of Zodiac team opened up. The Grunts were saying "Demon" and firing widely, striking a Brute with two dozen Needler rounds and caused a Supercombine explosion. Another Hunter was standing in front of a dozen Grunts and didn't fell the dozen plasma grenades until they had detonated on his back. Zodiac team smiled at the thought that they were causing the Grunts to kill their own troops. The Grunts were all put down by the remaining covenant forces, making Zodiac's job a bit easier. A dozen Drones flew in overhead, but Zodiac Nine with his SAW took care of the Drone threat along with several Brutes that rush him. He reloaded the SAW and continued to fire, even throwing a couple fragmentation grenades at the Jackals heading straight for him. The captured Wraith has been firing on any Covenant that Zodiac Seven saw. He even destroyed several unoccupied Wraiths so they couldn't be used against them again. Zodiac One threw several incendiary grenades at an advancing Jackal shield wall, which is when another Jackhammer missile hit the Jackals, causing some of them to scatter which made them an easy target for the snipers. It took forty-five minutes for the enemy encampment to be neutralized. No Spartans was killed, but the encampment was now littered with Covenant bodies. Zodiac Nine planted explosives in areas that were untouched and after Zodiac team cleared the area he detonated the charges. They then continued on to the ONI building.

 **Midnight:**

Sergeant Cutler and the others were gearing up to attack the Covenant forces outside of the museum and rescue any civilian and military personal trapped within. They split up so they could hit the Covenant from different positions to minimize casualties once the Covenant would start shooting back. Any LPD officers who was trained as a sniper headed to the rooftops to provide cover along with the Army Special Forces snipers and the lone ODST sniper. They took up positions in different buildings and every soldier was armed with either a M41SSR MAV/AW-Rocket Launcher, a Spartan Laser or a captured Fuel Rod Gun or Plasma Launcher and they were responsible for the Wraith Tanks, Ghosts, Choppers, and Banshees while those armed with assault rifles, DMRs, Battle Rifles, and LMGs would deal with the infantry.

They waited for the General to give the order to fire. He aimed his Battle Rifle at a Brute Captains' head and pulled the trigger sending three rounds towards its head. Everybody watched as the Brute fell to the ground dead. The others opened up just before the Brute hit the ground and it didn't take long before the Covenant were completely neutralized. Once the last covenant hit the ground dead, they moved on to clear the museum while the snipers remained outside to keep an eye out for any Covenant reinforcements.

They entered the museum to see the dead bodies of multiple Covenant, a couple of civilians armed with Covenant weaponry, two London Police Officers and one Army soldier. They continued on and saw plenty more dead Covenant along with another dead LPD officer. Some of the Covenant were killed by UNSC weaponry and some were killed by Covenant weaponry. They even saw a Hunter lying dead over a museum exhibit. They headed for the basement and once in the vast hallway that would lead them to the basement; they saw the remaining Covenant troops trying to get through a blast door. The General ordered his men with the M41 Rocket Launchers to fire onto the Covenant. They fired as a few fragmentation grenades followed the rockets; the Covenant in the hallway didn't stand a chance. Once the Covenant were taken care of the general approached the blast door.

However, before he could do anything the blast door opened and the surviving soldiers, police officers and civilians came out, all armed with a mix of Covenant and Human weapons. A Sergeant walked up to the general and told the General that there was a jammer on the roof of the museum. The General contacted his snipers and informed them of the jammer and told them to take care of it. They responded to him to hold on a minute and rifle shots follow, along with an explosion. They told him that the jammer has been destroyed and the museum was finally secure. The General then decided to head towards the Parliament building to regroup with the ODSTs.

 **Dawn:**

All Major Howler could hear throughout the night was gunfire and explosions coming from all different directions and now that it was first light his men were ready to go. He knew that their vehicles would help them break through the Covenant lines while the rest moved in on foot, but that would be after a long range artillery bombardment of the Covenant. Three of his men had target locators and they moved to their positions during the hours of darkness to get a lock on with the Target Locators to aim the steel rain that was coming in. The Phantoms on the ground exploded along with any Wraiths, Ghosts, Choppers, and Prowlers that got hit. They used the Target Locator until the artillery ran out of ammo, then Major Howler had his men armed with the M41SSR Rocket Launchers deal with any surviving vehicles and any Banshees in the air. He then sent in his vehicles, resulting in heavy Covenant casualties. His snipers eliminated the troops on Parliament roof while the troopers inside were able to take out the jammer, securing the area for the UNSC forces.

The Brigadier General soon arrived with the men and women from the museum. Major Howler and the General had a brief conference about what to do next and they sent out two squads consisting of both ODSTs and Army Special Forces to find any UNSC vehicles that were still operational. The troopers returned with two Scorpions, and four Warthogs. The brigadier general heard over the radio that a Spartan team managed to destroy the last two jammers without any casualties and that Sergeant Major Johnson managed to fake a radio signal and destroy a large force of Covenant while the soldiers at the ONI building sent a message to Alamo 1 asking for help and that Spartans were on their way to the United Kingdom. At that point, all UNSC forces within London knew that the battle for the city is far from over but it was the beginning of the end. The Brigadier General got on the radio and ordered all forces to dig in and fight from positions that they could hold and inflect as many casualties on the enemy has possible.

Sergeant First Class Madison, 1st Platoon, Bravo Company, 3rd Marines and his platoon were holed up in a hotel not far from one of the Covenant Anti-Aircraft emplacements. They're aiming to try and take out some of the anti-air emplacements so that Pelicans, Falcons, and Phoenix's could enter the city to evac the wounded and civilians. Eight ODSTs were with them. Sergeant First Class Madison looked out over the city with his binoculars and saw destruction everywhere he looked; some buildings were destroyed but most of the destruction was vehicles, UNSC, Civilian and Covenant. He even saw the burning hulks of some UNSC and Covenant aircraft inside buildings. Their platoon leader was severely wounded during their drop into the city, along with some of the NCOs. They heard the general's message over their comms just as one of the soldiers blew a Banshee out of the sky. Staff Sergeant Tom told the private to hold fire as they only had a few rockets left for the launchers. Sergeant First Class Madison gathered the surviving squad leaders together to inform them of what they would do next.

"You've all heard the General's orders; we need to neutralize the enemy anti-air emplacements so we can bring in ammo and food while allowing an evac of the wounded. Let's get this done so we can get those supplies and some much needed reinforcements."

"Copy that," they all reply. Sergeant First Class Madison divided his men up into three teams. Staff Sergeant Tom with 3 soldiers would remain with the wounded while Sergeant First Class Madison and his squad moved towards the nearest Anti-Air emplacement and the rest headed towards their own target. Sergeant First Class Madison and his squad ran into an enemy patrol of four Brutes and both teams opened fire immediate after spotting each other, with the Jiralhanae Minors charging towards them. A Spiker round hit Madison in the shoulder causing him to drop his BR so he drew his sidearm and fired until the magazine was emptied. Two Brutes lay dead in front of him and the remain two Brutes were dealt with by other members of his squad. All of a sudden a Wraith appeared and fired its plasma mortar at the team, but the deadly ball of plasma missed the team. Before the wraith could fire again, two rockets hit the tank and destroyed it. Sergeant First Class Madison looked around to see who fired the rockets, but none of his men had rocket launchers in their hands. Eight figures then walked out of the smoke, all of them wearing armor.

"Sergeant Madison, I'm Sergeant Bartoskwi, Spartan Team Specter team leader. We're here to help you take out the Anti-Air emplacements." One of the Spartans said. Madison simply hooded and they went on their way. Sergeant Madison and his men, with the help of Spartan Team Specter, managed to neutralize two of the Covenant triple-A batteries to allow for some much needed support to enter the city. They all knew that the Covenant still controlled London though. A few Pelicans landed at Parliament and delivered some much needed supplies. On the way back out the Sparrowhawks had to clear the way because the Covenant had sent in Anti-Air Wraiths to stop them. Two of the Pelicans were shot down but the others made it out.

Shipmaster Haru, furious the humans were still holding out, ordered his troops to seal off the city. New battles broke out as the UNSC forces tried to keep the Covenant from sealing off the city. Any UNSC forces who took up positions on the outskirts of the city had three choices: surrender, retreat away from the city, or head towards Parliament or the Central Train Station. None of them wanted to surrender or run away, so they abandoned their positions and headed towards the Parliament building or the Central Train Station; of course they're engaged by Covenant forces along the way, but they deal with them and continued to the rally points. Despite the efforts of the UNSC forces within London, the Covenant managed to seal off the city once again.

Major Tom Mason received the reports of this so he halted all trains from leaving, but two were still destroyed as they attempted to flee the city. Him and his troops had held off several Covenant assaults when Colonel Urban Holland arrived at the Central Train Station. Major Tom Mason offered the colonel command but Holland waved it off, simply saying. "You've done a fine job defending this position against overwhelming odds. What are my orders?"

"I need your men to reinforce the troops on the perimeter; the Covvies have been hitting us hard. I could use you there sir," The Major replied.

"I'll get right their Tom," the colonel replied. Colonel Urban Holland then divided his men up to defend the train station and they joined with the already exhausted soldiers on the line. The Covenant attacked the positions again, but were beaten back. Falcons would consistently risk the possibility of being shot down to bring in ammo and other supplies to the troops in London. A few of the Falcons were shot down while some managed to evade the Banshees and cause them crash into buildings. Fuel-Rod Shade Turrets fired on the Falcons as they approached the train station but the door gunners' fired on the Shade Turrets and the enemy soldiers were the only ones killed. Once the supplies were delivered they had to fly out. Several of the UNSC soldiers managed to shoot done their pursuers but a few of the Falcons were shot down as they attempted to make their escape from London. Most of the Falcons were able to get in and out of the city and brought in even more supplies. Colonel Urban Holland contacted the other UNSC units in the city to send squads to the crash sites to see if there were any survivors and to gather any


	20. Chapter 20: Battle of London Part 5

**Disclaimer: Halo dosent belong to me it belongs to 343 Industries and other studios. this story however is mine its after the events of Halo 3 as i saw it.**

* * *

 **The Battle for the United Kingdom**

Part 5

 **Dawn of Day two of the Battle of London**

Over the last two days the UNSC forces had been fighting hard against the Covenant forces in London, Manchester and the outskirts of the two cities. The Spartan teams that had been deployed to London had been inflecting heavy casualties and had saved many lives, but now was time for the UNSC to counter-attack and drive the Covenant out of the cities. Colonel Heath-118, Master Chief John-117, and others were gearing up for their assault on London, England after they had managed to liberate Manchester from the Covenant so now it would be London's turn. They all know that the battle for London would be hard and that a great many lives would be lost if they fail. Heath decided that the best plan of attack would be a four-prong assault which would force the Covenant to spread their forces thin in order to deal with the UNSC forces attacking from both inside and outside of London. Heath also knew that their air support would be minimal so they had to make sure all the ground vehicles were working perfectly. Heath watched the soldiers from the UNSC Army, Marines, and even the Air Force work together to make sure that all the vehicles were fully operational and fully armed. It was at that time that Master Chief John-117 came up to him and saluted the Colonel.

"Sir, what are you thinking about?"

"Well Chief, we all thought we knew our enemy from the years fighting them but nothing makes sense so far. We all heard what the Arbiter told us about the New Prophet's plan for us and they were defiantly not glassing the planets like they did in the first war."

"Their tactics have changed, but the species haven't change or the vehicles. They may have some new species but we'll learn how to deal with them as we did the rest. Don't worry sir, we will win this war," John told him.

"Of that Chief, I have no doubt." A Marine Major approached them. He nods to the Master Chief before looking at the Colonel.

"Sir, we are ready to go." The Marine said to Heath and John who then returned to where the others were gathered.

"Mount up troopers, hell was waiting for us!" Heath shouted to the men.

"Yeah, let's go kill those Covenant Mother Fuckers!" Major Rhodes yelled.

"Time for serious payback," another soldier also said. They all cheered and mounted their vehicles. He knew many of the troopers were young and many were FNGs when it came to fighting the Covenant, but he knew that they would do their jobs because if they didn't they would die. He took one last look around Manchester as it was a major staging area for UNSC forces in the UK and they had two UNSC Frigates hovering above the city waiting to assist when needed. He boarded one of the brand-new tanks. The tank was simply known as the Rex Tank, it is like the Grizzly MBT but it had two machine-guns, one for the gunner to fire and the other for another soldier to man in a way similar to the newer Scorpions, plus the Rex had incorporated shield technology learned from the covenant before the start of this war.

Heath didn't want the vehicles to go in a single-file line as that would make them easier targets for the Wraiths, Banshees, Seraphs, and some other vehicles in the Covenant arsenal that they didn't know about to stop them. He decided that the Warthogs and Wolverines would help with keeping the tanks safe from any airborne threats while a few Warthogs, the Mongooses, and a six captured Ghosts would be used to protect against the infantry. The tanks themselves would take care of any bigger threats; that was the plan anyway, but something that Mendez taught the Spartan-II's a long ago was that few things ever go according to plan. They were waiting for the word to move out. Heath knew that timing was everything as the other two attacks groups were schedule to attack before him. A very accurate artillery barrage hit the Covenant lines protecting the entrances to the city thanks to military units already inside of the city marking the targets for the artillery. Colonel Heath-118 watched as Seraph and Banshees poured out of the ship, but he was expecting this and that was why the Anti-Air batteries were setup to defend the artillery from any airborne threats. There was also two Squadrons of Longswords and A-11s headed up to meet the attacking enemy fighters. Round Two for the Battle of London was now underway, as the units had started to approach the city under the cover of the artillery barrage.

Heath waited for ten minutes before giving the order to move out over the comms. April was monitoring the Covenant Battlenet and she told him the Covenant were sending reinforcements to deal with the other attacks and that they had no idea they were coming. The Rex tank pushed through destroyed vehicles that had been trying to flee the city, clearing a path for the other vehicles. The Master Chief was driving a Gauss Warthog and the gunner was constantly watching for any Covenant movement. The company of Warthogs consisted of four different variants of the Warthog, the Gauss Warthog, the Rocket Hog, troop transport, and the standard version. The troop transport hogs were carrying everybody from Marines, ODSTs, Army Special Forces, to regular Army infantry. The troopers were all carrying weapons ranging from Spartan Lasers, Sticky Detonators, multiple shot grenade launchers, and Rocket Launchers to the troops primary and secondary weapons. A squadron of Banshees flew over the convoy of vehicles and the Warthogs got to work taking them out. They knocked out eight of the Banshees on their next flyby and the rest broke contact, heading back to the city. Heath and John both knew that the Covenant now knew they were coming so the element of surprise was lost.

They weren't surprise to see more Banshees appear as April confirmed that the Covenant had sent vehicles to engage them; according to the satellites there were Choppers, Ghosts, Prowlers, and Wraiths on their way. The Banshees were the first to arrive and they decided to attack the convoy in waves. The entire first wave was taken out without any losses but each additional wave managed to inflect casualties on the UNSC despite each on being swatted out of the skies. They didn't destroy any tanks; only a couple of Warthogs, a capture Ghost, and a Mongoose. The rest of the Banshees continue to harass the convoy, slowing them down so the ground vehicles could arrive. Major Rhodes and Lieutenant Jack were in another Gauss Hog with the major on the gun and Jack driving with Rhodes blasting several Banshees out of the sky. A Warthog was too far ahead of the convoy when a Brute Chopper rammed the Warthog and destroyed it. The Chopper continued towards the convoy until Heath fired a shell from the Rex tank destroying the charging chopper.

Two more choppers come charging towards the convoy and they meet a similar fate. More Choppers arrived along with some Ghosts. The tanks begin firing while the Warthogs were busy with the Banshees, though some were firing on the ground units. Heath fired a shell at a Banshee and blew it out of the sky. Heath decided to lead two other Rex tanks through the attacking vehicles and deal with a file of Wraiths that had just arrived and had begun lobbing plasma at the UNSC forces, already destroying a Warthog, a Mongoose, and a couple of Covenant vehicles. They destroyed any Covenant vehicles that tried to block their paths. Three Warthogs were accompanying them, including the one driven by the Chief. The gunner on the Chiefs Gauss Cannon was killed by a Ghost that was chasing after him and his passenger was been hit in the shoulder. The Chief slammed on the breaks and the Ghost slammed into the back of the Hog, killing the Grunt instantly. As he looked back forward he saw a half-destroyed Banshee coming right for them.

"Get out of the vehicle now trooper!" The Marine jumped out as the Master Chief got on the gun and fired at the Banshee. He hit the front of the Banshee, destroying it so that it didn't hit the Hog. He looked around to see that a Rex tank was smoking and saw that the Banshees and Ghosts had taken to crashing into it to destroy it when finally, the Covenant succeed in destroying one of the Rex Tanks. The rest of the tanks managed to destroy the line of Wraiths as another one of the Rex Tanks was neutralized with the crew members of both tanks surviving. Meanwhile the Wolverines had stopped and were launching a salvo after salvo of missiles at the Banshees, blowing even more out of the sky. Major Rhodes radioed the other vehicles that weren't accompanying the Colonel to protect the APC's and the Wolverines. Major Rhodes fired his Gauss cannon at several Ghosts, getting lucky and killing their riders. A Chopper plowed through a Rocket Hog that was firing on a Wraith that had managed to evade the Rex tanks. Major Rhodes fired the Gauss Cannon at the Brute Chopper, destroying it. Two more Choppers and four Ghosts were destroyed with the Major's accuracy with the Gauss Cannon. An ODST with a Spartan Laser finished off the tank just before a Chopper blew a huge hole into her chest with its 35mm autocannons and another ODST avenged her death. Rhodes killed several Unggoy, and Kig-Yar that were firing on a group of his fellow ODSTs.

"Thanks for the assist." They shouted at him as Major Rhodes destroys another Ghost and a Chopper.

"Colonel, I'm detecting another wave of Phantoms, Sprits, Banshees and additional Covenant ground vehicles on approach," April told him, so he contacted the Chief.

"Chief, we had drop ships on approach along with additional ground vehicle. I suggest we get all the vehicles into a circle."

"Roger that sir," John said, though he could tell that John wasn't happy by his orders.

"Chief, have I ever given you reason to doubt my tactics before?"

"No sir," he answered, a hint of uncertainty still in his voice.

"Trust me Chief, this will work," Heath replied. John trusted him but sometimes his plans were just a little bit crazy, though he still carried out the Colonel's orders. John knew that the Colonel has gotten them out of worst trouble before by using old tactics that they had studied back on Reach. Even though the UNSC soldiers with them were surprise by the orders, they all knew what to do. The tanks were positioned in the middle of the circle to meet the incoming vehicle threats while the Warthogs and Armored Personal Carriers were positioned on the outside to handle any other threat. The Colonel was back with the only surviving Rex Tank. The Banshees were the first to arrive, hoping to arrive and find the convoy still dealing with the other Banshees and ground vehicles so they were surprised to see that the convoy was waiting for them, resulting in the entire wave being destroyed with no damage taken.

The Phantoms come within range of the tanks and two were destroyed before they could drop off their troops. The remaining Phantoms decided to deposit their troops outside of the range of the tanks, though they Phantoms couldn't fire on the UNSC. The Covenant infantry consisted of Grunts, Jackals, Skirmishers, four pairs of Hunters, Brutes, and Drones came charging straight towards the circle humans with Ghosts and Choppers accelerated towards the encircled humans as well, driving over their own troops in the process. Colonel Heath-118 was smiling under his helmet as he saw that. He knew that due to them being in a circle the Covvies would have to attack head on as none of their vehicles could fire from the side except for the Prowlers which the turret could fire to the side but they were a big target. The Ghosts and Choppers didn't have a chance as attacking head on was suicidal. After the drivers were killed there were plenty of destroy hulls from the Ghosts and Choppers litter the streets along with their riders while the UNSC had only taken a few casualties and a couple of crippled Warthogs, but the guns all still worked. Only once the surviving vehicles had turned and headed back did the infantry attack. The Covenant infantry opened fire once they got within range, but the UNSC troopers equipped with sniper rifles, DMRs, and Battle Rifles had already begun to pick them off. A Kig-Yar sniper nailed a Marine on top of a Warthog, but was quickly eliminated by Jun. The gunner position was soon replaced by Daniel and he immediately opened fire on any Covenant within range. Covenant plasma bolts and Needles hit the UNSC vehicles, but the Covenant still where not within range to throw Plasma or Spike grenades. The Covenant Infantry tried to take the circle but were quickly dealt with only eight UNSC soldiers killed and four wounded but none severely.

The surviving Covenant started to fall back with the tanks still firing on them. Colonel Heath-118 knew that UNSC reinforcements from France could be on their way. Daniel was replaced by a Marine while he went and took control over a Scorpion. The UNSC soldiers took a few minutes to catch a breather and drink some water while they waited for the Colonel's orders to continue on. Their morale was high and they all wondered how the other attacks were faring as Heath was listing to reports coming in over his command coms. The other two groups had already reached their first objective but were encountering heavy resistance. The units inside the city had hit the Covenant hard since many of them had been recalled keeping the UNSC reinforcements from entering the city.

"Colonel Heath-118, this was Captain Bryana Takenov of the Brave New World. We were sending reinforcements to aide you in your attack." Heath heard the Captain over his helmets radio.

"Captain, be advise air space around here was too hot for Pelicans."

"Copy that Colonel. We were sending them in Falcons, let's see those Tyrants shoot them down."

"Thank you, Captain," Heath replied before the connection was terminated. Heath turned to the Master Chief. "Let's get moving Chief." The Chief nodded his head and gave the order to roll out. They continue towards London but they all know that the Covenant wasn't finish with them yet.

On board the UNSC Brave New World Captain Bryana Takenov brought up Colonel Heath-118's file. She had a smile on her face as she read the file. "He's an interesting Spartan, isn't he?" Admiral Horton asked.

"Yes sir, he sure is. If you don't mind me asking, how do you know him sir?" The Admiral didn't answer as he walked away. "Sir, how do u know him?"

"He's my younger brother," Was all the Admiral said before Admiral Horton boarded an awaiting Pelican and he headed to an ONI base in the Alps. Nyx then popped up on the AI pedestal.

"Captain, we have a Covenant destroyer heading right towards us. Apparently, they know why we're here."

"Damn, get everyone to their battle stations! I want Marines at the airlocks ready to rebel boarders. We need to be ready for when those Anti-Air Batteries are neutralized so that we can deal with that Covenant ship hovering above London and send reinforcements to our boys to help deal with the Covenant infantry in the city." Alarms sounded throughout the ship as everyone hurried to their Battle stations. "Nyx, set a course towards the enemy ship."

"Aye, Aye ma'am," the AI replied.

"Mrs. Garnet, I want the MAC gun hot and ready to fire along with Archer Missile Pods A1-A30. We're going to send that Covenant Destroyer strait to Davy Jones Locker."

"Aye Aye Captain," she said. She didn't know why the captain used the old pirate saying but who the hell cared, she wanted to send them straight to hell as well. They started to approach the Covenant Destroyer and the MAC gun fired along with the Archer Missiles. The Covenant Destroyer didn't even try to avoid the MAC Shell as it returned fire. The plasma flew at the UNSC ship and the captain had the pilot try to avoid has much as he could so most of them missed with a few of the plasma bolts grazed the underside of the Brave New World shields. The MAC shell did hit the Covenant Destroyer and knocked its shield out and only twelve of the thirty Archer Missiles from the first wave hit but another wave of Archer Missiles was on its way and more of them hit the Covenant ship. This caused the Covenant Destroyer to crash into the open ocean below and it started to sink like a rock. The UNSC Brave New World then returned to its original position.

Major Tom Mason and some other UNSC soldiers had held off several Covenant attacks and since the start of the UNSC counter-attack early in the morning they had been evacuating civilians. Some of the civilians had refused to leave their homes and that was their choice if they wished to stay in the war-torn city of London. Several Pelicans had tried to deliver supplies to UNSC troops in London but had been shot down with some landing in the Thames River while others landed inside or outside the city itself. The Falcons and Phoenix's had better luck allowing most of the wounded UNSC soldiers were evacuated on the now empty aircraft. Major Tom Mason knew that they would need to improve their defense around the train station in order to survive. He exited from the train station and saw destroyed UNSC, Covenant, and civilian vehicles littering the streets. He ordered his men to begin using the vehicles to block up the streets leading to the train station. Colonel Urban Holland and his men had been assisted the Major, despite the several times Major Mason has offered to give the Colonel full command which he turned down every time.

One of the APC's that they had brought with them was known as the Defense Vehicle. The Defense Vehicle didn't carry troops as it carried weapons, ammo, and other stuff for UNSC personal to use to hold a position. It had a crew of five with several heavy machine guns for defense. They had already unloaded the Wolf Spiders and place them in the streets around the train station and one on the rooftop, which had been taken out by Banshees. They reloaded the Wolf Spiders and rearrange them so they were in a new location to surprise the covenant. They also had Gauss Cannons and other weapons that were usually on Warthogs to help them defend the station. They even had a couple of Missile Pods around the station. They started to block up the roads leading to the train station with vehicles. A sniper team was in one of the buildings spotting vehicles heading straight for the train station. Private First-Class Joseph Allen was one of the snipers in Sniper Perch One looked through his scope and saw four Warthogs and a Mongoose speeding towards the train station, his spotter was watching too.

"Quarterback, this is Hawk One, UNSC vehicles on approach, hold fire," he said.

"Roger Hawk 1, we are holding," a voice appeared over his radio in his ear. He looked through his scope again and saw Choppers and Ghosts chasing after them.

"Quarterback be advised, there are Covenant right on their ass; we are engaging." He fired and nailed the Brute on the lead chopper which caused the driver to fall off and had the chopper to spend out of control and take out three more choppers. The other snipers added their fire to the Private First-Class Allen's fire. Major Mason had his men inside of the buildings around the square in front of the train station. Some of the men were armed with Spartan Lasers and others were armed with M41SSR-Rocket Launchers. The Warthogs entered the parking lot and they formed a small square with their weapons aimed directly at the highway. The first group of Covenant vehicles came into view and the Warthogs opened up with their M41 Vulcan Machine Guns and their Gauss cannons. The Covenant didn't have a prayer because as soon as they opened fire, rockets and small arms fire tore into them from the sides. The small firefight lasted only fifteen minutes and no UNSC soldiers were killed or wounded. Major Mason noticed that those soldiers were ODST's instead of his fellow Army Dogs. A lieutenant came up to Major Mason and saluted him and the Major returned his salute.

"Major Mason, we are here to assist you in holding this position." The ODST lieutenant told him as Colonel Holland appear so they both salute him.

"What's the plan?" Colonel Urban Holland asked.

"Our orders are to lure the enemy here to weaken areas of the city so we can get some much-needed support," The Lieutenant replied.

"How are we going to lure them here?" Major Mason asked.

"We are going to use a Forerunner Artifact as bait." The ODST's told him.

"What Forerunner Artifact?"

"There isn't one but we have to make the Covenant believe there is one so they come here."

"How do we do that?" Major Mason asked. The Lieutenant in charge of the ODST attachment that arrived at the train station show him the "artifact". He told him that the artifact came from a museum in New York City and that it was a replica that they were going to broadcast the image of to every Covenant around London. He saw a Lance Corporal appear carrying a Covenant hologram projector. They activated it and the Sangheili Commander appeared from his cruiser in orbit around Earth. The lieutenant showed him the artifact tauntingly and the Sangheili General just stared at it before the transmission ended.

"Now Major Mason, we will have to fight off numerous Covenant assaults but it will give other UNSC forces a chance to take out the Triple-A batteries and to destroy the ship." The Lieutenant walked away leaving Major Tom Mason wondering if Brigadier General Read was playing with their lives just like the officer he shot during the First Human-Covenant War. He knew that now wasn't the time to think about it because they would soon be surrounded by Covenant ground troops so he went to make sure his troopers were ready for the coming fight. They had a few Gauss Cannons set up on the roofs in preparation for any Banshees that might attack. He hoped his troopers manning the guns would be able to keep the Covenant drop ships from landing and attacking them from behind, but he wouldn't know until the Covenant decided to attack from that direction. There were too many areas of approach and not enough troopers to cover them all as his fire teams were spread thin even with the ODST help, what they really needed were Spartan support.

On board one of the many Covenant Destroyers in orbit around Earth and near one of the many non-operational Orbital Defense Platforms the Sangheili Commander who saw the artifact was talking with the Jiralhanae Chieftain aboard the cruiser hovering above the human city. The Sangheili Commander had been given instructions not to interfere with the Jiralhanae operations in London, which the Jiralhanae Chieftain was persistently remanding him.

"Chieftain, I'm not trying to interfere with your operations but the humans have a Forerunner artifact in their possession which we must take from them intact." The Chieftain snarled at the Sangheili as the hatred that the two held for each other from the First Human Covenant was still there. The Jiralhanae Chieftain told him that they'll handle it before ending the transmission.

Meanwhile, Colonel Heath-118 and the others had just gotten reinforced by additional Marines from the UNSC Brave New World. The Marines had managed to land in Manchester and catch up with the convoy before they reached London. They were approaching one of the many bridges that go into London. Just before they reached the bridge they come under attack by two squadrons of Ghosts piloted by Grunts. They Ghosts were quickly dealt with and the gunners manage to only kill the pilots on most of the Ghosts, leaving the now empty vehicles for UNSC soldiers to claim. An Armor Personal Carrier stopped and deployed two squads of troopers which took the Grunts place. The Ghosts advanced ahead of the convoy to try to foil the Covenant ahead and deal damage to them before heading back to rejoin the convoy.

"I want everyone on high alert. This is the Covvies last chance to keep us from entering London." Colonel Heath-118 said over the coms and everyone acknowledged his orders. The captured Ghosts advanced ahead of the convoy. They went over a hill, and down on the other side they saw a swarm of Unggoy, and Kig-Yar heading towards them. They accelerated to ramming speed and ran many of the Covenant troops over before a group of Choppers and more Ghosts chased them off. Two of the captured Ghosts were destroyed by the Choppers' cannons while the rest fell back. The Choppers, Ghosts, and surviving Covenant foot soldiers chased after the captured Ghosts who were retreating back over the hill since the UNSC vehicles hadn't climb the hill yet; though once the Covenant vehicles appeared over the hill the UNSC vehicles opened up. Nothing survived the firepower that was fired at that hill and the UNSC continued its advance. Several Unggoy with primed plasma grenades appeared over the hill before the first group of Warthogs would reach the crest of the hill. The gunners opened fire on the Kamikaze Unggoy. They sent a brief radio message back to the other vehicles to watch out for Kamikaze Unggoy. The Kamikaze Unggoy attacks appeared out of nowhere and without warning. They managed to destroy three Mongooses, one Warthog and temporary disable another Warthog. After the UNSC got over the hill they discovered the Covenant infantry had setup a roadblock at the entrance to the bridge. As they all got over the hill John's voice appeared over the coms.

"It would seem that the Covenant don't want us to enter London. They have amassed quite a few troops." Many just laughed as Heath saw that they even had a few Wraiths. The Wraiths began firing but their plasma was falling short. The Marines and Army Soldiers were all shouting taunts at the Covenant while the Spartans remained calm, waiting for Heath's orders to open fire. That's what the Spartans were trained to do, kill any enemies of the UNSC be it alien or human. Heath remembered what Doctor Halsey had told them their first day after they had taken their oaths.

"You will be the protectors of Earth and all her colonies." Heath had done the best he could to fulfill that oath. He opened a com channel to all the Spartans with him and those already in the city.

"Are we ready to end the siege of London?"

"Sir Yes sir," the Spartans replied.

"Then let's give them hell Spartans," Heath said over their coms before switching back to company frequency.

"Listen up tanks, were going to clear the roadblock and once it's clear we will move onto the bridge. The Covenant are going to throw everything they have at us so we don't make it into London so we need to remain on alert always. I want the Warthogs and the tanks ammo restoked before we engage the Covenant." Marines and Army soldiers begin unloading ammo crates from the Armor Personal Carriers that were tasked with carrying extra ammo for the vehicles. A dozen Brutes chose that time to attack, but they were beaten back by the UNSC. A Marine walked over to a wounded Brute and fires the rest of his magazine into the dying Brute just as he was returning to his platoon, he fell down dead. Two more soldiers were killed by two different Jackal snipers as everybody scrambled for cover. A Marine with a sniper rifle was shaking, trying to find the snipers but he couldn't stop shaking after watching his two fellow soldiers fall from headshots. It was then that Colonel Heath came up to the Marine.

"Hey, take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Calm down, it isn't your fault, but for every enemy sniper you kill you avenge their deaths and any fellow soldier who was killed by an enemy sniper." The Marine breathing slowed down and he started to calm down. "I'm going to use myself as bait, you watch for those snipers and take them out." The Marine looked at the Spartan and couldn't tell what his facial expressions were under the helmet as the Colonel sprinted off. He takes multiple hits from the Jackal Snipers Beam Rifle, Focus Rifle, and Needle Rifle but his shields were holding steady. The Marine sniper had already nailed two Kig-Yar snipers and was fixing to nail another Jackal when three plasma bolts hits the Colonel which caused him to fall hard. The Marine saw Grunts heading for him. He was fixing to switch to the Unggoy and stop hunting for the Kig-Yar snipers until he heard Jun's voice in his helmet coms telling him he had the Grunts and for him to deal with the snipers. The Marine went back to work and so did Jun. It didn't take long before all the Kig-Yar snipers were dead and the attacking Grunts were eliminated. The Marine went to the Colonel's side and as a medic came up the Colonel immediate got to his feet.

"Well that was fun." The Marine looks at the Colonel in amazement.

"Sir, I saw you fall from those plasma bolt hits."

"Trooper only two where fully charge, I wanted to see how you would act and you did a hell of a job trooper." The Marine didn't know what to say as the Colonel going down had scared him but turned out he was just playing possum. The Chief looked at the Colonel as Heath gave the Chief the smile gesture and the Chief just shakes his head.

"Saddle up," The Colonel ordered as he got into the Rex Tank and along with the other Scorpions and Grizzlies began shelling the roadblock. The Wraith's didn't stand a chance as high-explosive shells landed on top of them. Once the vehicles were taken care of the tanks switched to firing shrapnel shells at the Covenant infantry causing Covenant body parts to be blown in all different directions. The tanks moved forward slowly, still pounding the roadblock. The Fuel Rod Shades fired on the tanks, disabling one of the Scorpions before another Scorpion destroyed the Shade and another one before a lucky shot killing the driver. Another Marine takes his place and fired on the Shade, destroying it and killing the Brute operator. The fight only lasted a few minutes until every Covenant was dead. They continued on down the road and two Warthogs were ahead of the rest of the column, watching for any Covenant vehicles on the bridge. They encounter no more Covenant until they were over the water and a squadron of Banshees attacked. Three were blown out of the sky on the first pass while two more were blown out of the sky on the second pass, destroying two Warthogs but leaving the crew fine. April's voice soon appeared on the companies' freq.

"Be advised, a large force of Covenant is moving towards our location. I estimate numerous Choppers and Ghost. I'm also detecting Wraiths inbound along with more Banshees and Phantom drop ships. I'll try to contact the UNSC Brave New World to dispatch some fighter cover or see if we can laser designate targets for guided missiles." Two Banshees managed to disable a Scorpion but the guns were still operational and it blew one Banshee out of the sky. Heath knew the bridge didn't had enough room for them to fight in tight formations so he gave the orders to break formation and to make it to the other end anyway they could. The bridge had four lanes on both sides but with civilian vehicles all over the bridge, along with destroyed Covenant vehicles, it was going to be hazardous for them. The only Rex tank blasted two Banshees out of the sky. Heath saw the Covenant vehicles approach at max speed so He headed straight for them supported by two Grizzly tanks. The Master Chief knew they'll have to deal with whatever vehicles got through the tanks but for right now they could focus on the Banshees overhead. The Armor Personal Carries were the main target of the Banshees and the Kamikaze Ghost that arrived from one of the off ramps.

Two of the APCs were knocked out of action until the Marines and Soldiers were able to replace the melted tires. Several Marines and Soldiers were armed with M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket Launchers, Spartan Laser, and were manning the AIE-486 HMG and LAU-65 D/SGM-151 Missile Pods on the tops of the Armor Personal Carriers. They were inflecting damage on both ground targets and air targets. Major Rhodes was firing the Warthog's Gauss Cannon while Lieutenant Jack was evading Choppers trying to ram them. The Chief's hog was under attack by multiple Ghosts and he was trying to keep his gunner and passenger alive and give them targets to shoot at. The Marine on the Gauss Cannon was screaming at the Covenant but as the Warthog veered away from an oncoming Ghost, another Ghost fired its twin plasma cannons at the Warthog, which killed the Marine. The Chief slammed on the breaks which surprised the Grunt piloting the machine and caused it to slam into the back and the Grunt flew over the Warthog and landed in front. As the Grunt started to get back up the Chief ran him over and then he headed over to the APC. He got out of the driver seat and told a Marine to take the driver seat as he hopped on the gun.

The Chief gathered six out of the twelve Warthogs still operational to follow him down the ramp and engage the Covenant coming from that direction. He told the other 6 Warthogs to do the same on the other ramp as the APC's pulled up side by side to protect one another. Jun and Lucy remained to protect the APC's while Tom and Daniel follow the Chief in tanks. They descended the ramp and a squadron of Ghost appeared but they were no match for the Scorpion Main Battle Tanks. The Warthogs had already reached the bottom and saw four Wraiths and two Prowlers and so the Master Chief gave the order to attack. He began by firing the Gauss Cannon at the nearest Wraith. One of the Wraiths was neutralized but a Warthog had flipped leaving a wounded Marine. A Prowler pulled up beside the overturn Warthog and the crew exited the Prowler except for the gunner. A Brute went up to the young wounded Marine and fired his Spiker. The Master Chief screamed something but a round hit the Prowler, cutting off the Chief's scream. The Brutes turned around but were cut down by machine gun fire from a Scorpion.

* * *

A **uthor Note: I like to thank everyone who has shown support for this story and also to my beta reader TheArizona for his contination on beta-reading and helping the story be better. Please continue to support this story.**


End file.
